Scry Me a River
by notnecessarilyinbetween
Summary: Merlin didn't know whether it was a joke from the Old Religion, or if his luck was really that bad. Whatever the case, he had helped bring about the rise of Camelot, some school tournament shouldn't be a problem at all.
1. Prologue

So here is the start of another story, a Merlin HP crossover that I have had floating around for a while.

Nothing belongs to me.

* * *

Honestly, Harry blamed it all on the dementors. They really just screwed everything up. Not only had he constantly have to deal with being made fun of by his classmates, and listening to his parents die over and over again, no, there had to be another effect too.

In the beginning he hadn't noticed when his magic began to grow stronger, it was a gradual thing. Spells being done quicker and with better results, almost as if he had practiced them before. He had always excelled at spells anyway, so it just felt natural. But that was not the same when he repelled all of the dementors. The power just _flowed _through him, as if it was always meant to be there. Even afterwards he could feel the effects of the power gathering around him and covering him. However, he continued to ignore it in preparation for exams and getting ready to return to the Dursleys.

It was his first day back (after threatening the Dursley's with his fake mass-murdering Uncle) that things started to turn for the worst. First there were dreams. Intense cold and fear, so similar to the dementors, but he knew they were different. Screaming voices, people frozen solid, and always out of the corner of his eye, a man. Harry would wake up with fists clenched and a shout on the tip of his tongue, but he could never recall the name.

He wrote letters to Ron, Hermione, and Sirius to try to keep his mind off of things, but every moment he kept thinking about those dreams. He hadn't told them about the dreams, he remembered how they reacted in second year with the parseltongue, and for some reason it felt right to keep it a secret, like his life depended on it.

His dreams started to change, too. There seemed to be a lifetime of experiences bursting through his head. Lakes, and caverns, the wild, a beautiful woman, a castle standing tall and proud. And the man who was always there. He could never really see him, just a glimpse of blonde hair and a red cloak with some kind of symbol on it, but that was all. After those dreams Harry always felt sick, guilty, and hurt.

It had been over a month since Harry had been at the Dursley's, over a month of nightmares, and lies to friends, and being left alone out of fear. On the night of June 21st, Harry saw a battle, himself on a cliff looking down at the carnage, and finally the man who had haunted his dreams. He woke up with a gasp.

"Arthur."

* * *

I would like thank my friend who made me realize I probably should write this down. It used to be titled "Damn you Aurelia" in her honor, but we decided that wouldn't be the best title for an actual fic.

If you are interested she is fanfiction writer Rikkamaru, and is crazy good~

~not necessarily in between


	2. Chapter 1

Hello~

This chapter is still pretty much set up, I hope to get to the actual plot of the story in the next one or two.  
Nothing belongs to me.  
Please enjoy

* * *

Merlin-once previously known as Harry Potter- woke with a start as Frank Bryce hit the floor. He rubbed the scar on his forehead, trying to massage out the ache. He squinted and looked around the room, trying to remember details of the vision, the snake, Wormtail, and that voice...Voldemort. Merlin groaned as he fell back onto the bed. Visions, he hated visions, nothing good happened from seeing the future. He sighed as he remembered another part in the dream, they were trying to kill him...what else was new. Merlin rolled over and stared at the multitude of books scattered across the floor. Most of them had to do with Arthurian Legends (which Merlin had to say were quite hysterical, and sometimes plain wrong, Mordred as Arthur and Morgana's child? Really?)

He sighed and rubbed his hand over the scar again. He cursed the old religion in his head. Of all the situations he could be reincarnated to, this was the kicker. A so called savior, fighting an evil dark lord in a world where magic was a secret and he was seen as a _god. _He also lived with three of the worse people he had ever seen! He grimaced, and pushed all of those thoughts to the back of his mind.

'I have never studied cursed scars before...maybe I should try to find some research on them...could I ask Ron or Hermione perhaps?'

He stood and looked out onto the street, the lights reflecting off of the asphalt, 'No, I can't. Hermione would just tell me to go to Dumbledore, and then what? "Sorry sir, my scar hurt." That would go over well. Ron would just go and ask his mum, which would go to Dumbledore as well.

With a small thought, Harry conjured a light in his palm, and made it dance around the room.

'I could ask Sirius...but he'd probably just go to Dumbledore too.' Merlin sat down on his floor and tried to remember anything similar. Even after years of working as Court Sorcerer of Camelot, he couldn't think of anything like this.

"What am I even doing here!" Merlin groaned and his head banged against the floor.

Several hours later, Merlin went down for breakfast. Dudley had apparently been written up in his school for being overweight, and Aunt Petunia had created a diet for him to follow over the summer.

Which means that Dudley had been feeling even more bitter and grumpy than usual. However, Aunt Petunia had decided that the best way to make Dudley feel better was to make Merlin's portions smaller than Dudleys. Merlin was glad he was used to less food, and could summon some if he needed it, he doubted he would have been able to survive the summer on what his Aunt had been giving him.

As Harry stared down at the small piece of grapefruit on his plate, the doorbell rang. His Uncle stood up to answer it, and they all heard some words spoken, someone laughing, and then Vernon slamming the door.

He walked into the kitchen and pointed directly at Harry, "You, in the living room. Now."

Merlin hid a sigh, 'Now what?'

Apparently, the Weasley;s had asked if Harry wanted to go to the Quidditch World Cup, and had decided to send him the letter through normal post. As none of them had used the normal post before, they had absolutely covered the letter in stamps. Vernon began to kick up a fuss about magic, and how they had spent all of their work and money keeping him well, when Merlin said the magic words.

"Alright then, I'll just go finish the letter to my godfather I was writing…" and Merlin hid a smirk as Uncle Vernon began to quiver on the spot.

"You-you're writing a letter to him? Now?"

"Yes, he likes to hear from me every week or so, see if I'm doing well, if I'm happy…"

Vernon's face turned an amazing shade of purple, "Fine! Fine, go to this thing! And tell your ...god father... that you are going."

Merlin smiled and exited the room, his happy mood not even decreased when his head was slammed into by what had to be a small gray tennis ball.

He chuckled as he read over Ron's letter, which in no uncertain terms said that no matter what the Dursley's decided, they would pick him up on Sunday.

Merlin then sat down to write a letter to his god father, it would only be right to let him know where he was going.

-.-

Merlin was having an amazing time with the Weasleys. As Harry, he had always loved the Weasley family. They all cared for each other so much, and even willing to spend time on him. As Merlin, he was grateful to them even more. It had been so long since he had could spend time and just relax and be around friends.

He had thought it would be difficult to hide his changes, the increase in knowledge, the slight changes in personality. Ron and Hermione, however, did not really seem to notice, what with all that was happening, and so he was safe for the moment. He did feel a bittersweet pang of loneliness as he thought of his later years with the round table, when they could just _tell _when he wasn't feeling right, but shoved it down. He had hidden before, and he could do it again.

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were silent as they trudged out to the place where the portkey was supposed to pick them up, obviously not used to waking up so early. Harry had just woken up as normal, and even helped Mrs. Weasley with breakfast, much to her surprise.

Merlin followed along after Arthur Weasley at a quick pace, he wasn't even paying attention to the conversation going on. Thus he was quite surprised when a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Sorry about him, he is just excited, no hard feelings right?"

Merlin started and looked up to see Cedric Diggory giving him a half smile, and flushed, "Sorry, I wasn't really paying attention, what happened?"

Cedric lifted an eyebrow and laughed, "Nothing then, my dad was just being a bit rude, are you actually focused now?"

Merlin laughed in response, "Yes."

Just then he was told by Mr. Weasley to hold onto an old boot, which he did, and he felt his stomach being pulled out from inside of him. The wind whirled around them, and howled as he could see and feel the magic spinning them off through space.

The magic suddenly stopped, but not before gently setting him with his feet on the ground. Everyone besides himself, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Diggory, and Cedric were lying on the floor. Mr. Weasley gave him a small smile of approval, and they helped the others up to find out where to set up for the quidditch cup.

-.-

Merlin tensed as he noticed the Malfoy family stride up to the top box, he really didn't know why he expected anything different. Arthur and Lucius had to pretend to be congenial, but to Merlin's surprise Draco just tilted his chin and huffed when he caught sight of him. the crowd hushed as as a group of the most beautiful women he has ever seen walked out onto the field. He heard Mr. Weasley shout out, Veela! But the only thing he could think of was the Lamia. With a quick thought, he used a spell to block enchantments, and just in time. The dance of the veela was entrancing, and he could see the people around him falling under their sway.

The dancing stopped as soon as it started, much to the outrage of the fans, but people quickly moved on when the game was ready to start.

"I am almost surprised, Potter, I expected you to jump out of the box to get a look at those Veela there, it seems Weasley was about to," a voice sneered from behind him.

Merlin didn't even deign to look back, "The enchantment of a veela is easily nullified if you have had practice in the mind arts and know what to expect, similar to the Lamia, it is all about the preparation for the moment. I knew what veela where, and so I could prepare, where as Ron did not. It has nothing to do with strength or magic, just forethought." Merlin continued to watch the game, not noticing the surprised look on the faces of all the people surrounding him.

-.-

Merlin woke with a start and pitched forward in bed. He swore he had heard something outside the tent.

"Ron, Ron, wake up!" Harry hedged as he rolled out of the cot and grabbed his jacket.

"-waz at?"Ron snuffled, and tried to sink further into his blankets.

"Get up Ron! Something is wrong!" Merlin started to drag him from his bed, but at just that moment a loud bang sounded. Ron jumped up from his bed in surprise, and grabbed a jacket and pulled on his shoes. They were about to leave the tent when Merlin ran into someone. He jerked back in preparation to set off a curse, but sighed when he saw it was just Mr. Weasley.

Mr. Weasley looked just as shocked, but the expression quickly morphed into fear as he ushered the two out of the tent and told them to stay down.

Merlin's scowled as he saw what was happening outside.

People stood in a crowd below figures that they were spinning around in the sky. Two of the figures were very small, and Merlin could hear them wailing as they were flung about. Merlin snarled and launched off to get closer, not noticing as Ron shouted after him.

He snuck around the back of a tent, and stared at the men who were holding up the people, who at a closer view he could see where the Site Manager and what must be his family.

"Tídrénas" Merlin whispered, and watched as all of the fires quickly started to be put out,

"Bedyrene hie! Astyre hie thanonweard," and the four figures disappeared from sight. He knelt as he made sure to send them away from the fighting, and laid a small sleep spell and protective charm around them. It would last until magic deemed the area stable, and would then reveal them.

Merlin ran away to hide as he heard the outraged cries of the wizards in the center where the muggles had been being used. He grimaced as he saw they were all wearing matching masks and had hoods pulled over their faces.

Merlin slinked back into the shadows of the woods, and only then realized he had completely lost the Weasleys.

"Shit," Merlin swore, and was startled by a reply.

"Language Potter, what would your mother say, oh wait-"

"Shut up Malfoy!" Merlin snarled and glared at him, and was surprised to see a quick splash of fear across the other teens face.

It disappeared as soon as it had come, however, and Malfoy just smirked at him. Merlin got a better look at the boy and his eyes narrowed. He was sitting on a boulder in what would have been a perfect position to see what was happening to the muggles.

"A shame really, you just missed the Weasleys, all of them running about like headless chickens because they had lost their precious Potter," Draco drawled, but Merlin just sighed.

"Yes, yes, thank you Draco, you wouldn't perchance actually be helpful and point me in the direction they went, would you?" Merlin ran his hand through his hair, not noticing the shocked look on Draco's face.

"Hmph, I would think of not telling you, but I'd rather you not hang around, the blood traitors went that way, stomping like a herd of elephants, I can't believed you missed them," Draco pointed off to his right with a grimace.

"Thanks," Merlin bolted in that direction without a thought.

He once again missed the confused look on Draco's face.

Merlin ran off to the right and fumbled through the brush, smirking a bit as it reminded him of old times.

"MORSMORDRE!"

Merlin dove behind a tree, only to watch as a large green mist seemed to spring from nearby.

"What the-" he turned towards the familiar voice, and smiled.

"Ron!" Merlin rushed over to where he was stood.

"HARRY POTTER!" Hermione rushed into him and grabbed his arms, "WHERE WERE YOU?"

"Sorry, 'mione, ," Merlin grimaced.

"Geez mate, one minute you were there, the next you just vanished! Dad thought that those wizards had snatched you!" Ron stated, he then looked up at the sky, "And what the hell is that?"

Merlin peered up again, and a look of revulsion crossed over his face, in the sky was a large skull, with a snake curving in and out of the empty eye sockets and mouth. It stood out like a stark relief against the night sky.

Hermione gasped, "That's the dark mark! It is You-know-who's sign!"

"Voldemort-"

"Harry, come on, that person is still here!" Hermione grabbed his arm and started to pull him, but before they could even get ten paces away, Merlin sent them sprawling to the ground to duck from a number of curses being sent over their heads.

"Wait!That's my son!" A familiar voice called out, and Mr. Weasely rushed forward.

"Ron, Harry, Hermione, what happened!"

Mr. Crouch pushed himself forward, holding them at wand point, "Which one of you did it, which one of you sent out the mark!"

Merlin stood stunned, "We didn't do it sir, we were running from the riots when we heard a voice from just over there," Merlin pointed to behind his shoulder, "and it just appeared in the sky!"

Crouch snarled, "Likely story," but the rest of the aurors moved over to the bushes.

Mr. Diggory then gave a startled gasp, "We got them but-blimey…" and he pulled a figure out from behind the trees.

Merlin recognized it as the house elf who had sat behind him during the game, Mr. Crouch's _personal_ house elf.

Mr. Crouch stared down at the elf, and then moved around to look see if there was anyone else around.

"Bit embarrassing," Mr, Diggory looked down grimly at the elf, but Mr. Weasley quickly intervened, "Come off it, Amos, the dark mark needs a wand to be cast, it couldn't have been the elf."

"She had a wand."

"WHAT!"

Amos Diggory held out a wand in his hand, and Merlin started.

'Oh boy...I know that wand...'

"That's where it went!" Merlin shouted out, hoping to catch everyone off guard, "I lost my wand just as I started to run through the forest, that's it!"

"You lost it?" Mr Diggory said in disbelief, "Does a wizard just lose their wand, you probably threw it away after conjuring the dark mark!"

Mr. Weasely stared at him in disbelief, "Are you accusing Harry Potter of conjuring the Dark Mark?"

"eh-no, sorry, I got carried away," Mr. Diggory stumbled back with a flinch.

He then turned to the elf, and started to question how she must have stolen the wand, but Merlin turned to look at Mr. Crouch. Something seemed wrong about this entire situation.

He shook out of his stupor just in time to hear Mr. Crouch say he was going to give Winky clothes. He winced, and quickly took his proffered wand back from Mr. Diggory. Mr. Weasely rounded up the group, and they walked quietly back to camp.

"Harry," Hermione whispered, "how did she get your wand?"

Merlin shrugged, "When we left the tent, I realized I didn't have it, I was trying to find it when I went off, I'm sorry about that…" Merlin ignored the guilty twinge at having to lie to Hermione.

'Falling into bad habits again.'

-.-

'Bloody wands, why do these wizards have to use wands! I keep forgetting about them.' Merlin grimaced and made sure to tuck his wand into his pocket.

He sighed as he thought of returning to Hogwarts for the year. He loved the place, and it was an escape from the Dursley's, but it was already difficult enough with being the Boy-who-lived. He would now have to deal with hiding the fact that he was also the Reincarnation of Merlin.

'I'll just deal with it as it comes," he nodded to himself, and finished packing his trunk.

* * *

Please read and review, I noticed this chapter jumped a bit, but I figured most people know the plot of HP really well. Meh, I will try to make the next one jump next.

~not necessarily in between


	3. Chapter 2

More build up~

"Spoken word"

'Thoughts'

Nothing belongs to me

Enjoy.

* * *

Merlin smiled a little at all the people talking excitedly around him about the Triwizard Competition. He had missed this atmosphere.

'I wonder if I can cross the age line...BY THE TRIPLE GODDESS I'M OLDER THEN DUMBLEDORE!'

Merlin hung his head, getting a worried reaction from Hermione.

"Harry?"

Merlin perked up and gave her a smile, "ah, no worries, just sort of sad there will be no quidditch."

The trio finished up their food and climbed up to the Gryffindor tower, Hermione muttering about slave labor, and Ron bouncing around at the idea of the competition.

I might go for it, you know" Ron said as they had both laid down in their beds, "if Fred and George find out how to...the tournament...you never know,do you?"

"S'pose not…"

Merlin trailed off as he heard Ron start to snore.

'I've had enough adventure for a lifetime or two! I think I can sit this one out,' He rolled over and let out a gentle sigh with a smile on his face, and fell asleep.

~~.~~

Merlin grimaced as he sat listening to the Professor Trelawney drawl on and on and on about divination. This class was useless; he had known a true seer- he grimaced as _she_ came to the forefront of his mind- and even he had seen the future a few times, though never truly on purpose.

Seeing the future did nothing, nothing could be changed when a prophecy was formed, and he for one was done worrying about a future that hadn't come to pass yet.

"Harry," he heard a mutter and jolted up to see Trelawney standing before him.

"I was saying, my dear, that you were clearly born under the baleful influence of Saturn."

"...what?"

"Saturn, dear, the planet Saturn!" Trelawney sounded irritated at having to repeat herself, "I was saying that Saturn was surely in a position of power in the heavens at the moment of your birth...your dark hair...your mean stature 'Oi'...tragic losses so young in life...I think I am right in saying, my dear, that you were born in midwinter?"

Merlin gulped, "No, I was born in July."

Ron hid a laugh, but Merlin just gave the Professor a look as he walked away. Harry certainly hadn't been born in midwinter, but Merlin…

He had done a bit of research to find the exact day that the calendar would say he had been born, and it had fallen on December 21, the darkest day. He had sighed at that notion before but…

He aggressively shook his head, 'Nope, nope, not happening.'

~~.~~

Merlin looked in disgust as he watched Mad-eye bounce the Malfoy ferret up and down in the corridor. In one swift motion he whipped out his wand to hide the fact that he was using his true magic to summon Malfoy to him.

Oi, mate.." Ron began with a grin, but stopped when he saw the venomous look on Merlin's face.

Everyone surrounding him stood stock still, but Merlin ignored it, "Look, he might be a prat, but I could handle it, and even then you do NOT transfigure someone like that! What if you had messed up! And small mammals are extremely vulnerable, you can't just throw people around! You are no better than those Death Eaters during the cup!"

He cupped Malfoy in his hands, and began to walk away towards Nurse's office.

As he walked farther away he locked down at the small ferret quivering in his palms, "Look, I'm not doing it for you, that was just wrong, so we'll just pretend it never happened, alright?"

If ferrets could give looks of disdain, that was exactly what was happening.

"Fine, fine, I'll shut up," Merlin walked into Madame Pomfrey's office.

"Madame Pomfrey?" Merlin called out, and she immediately appeared in front of him.

"Mr. Potter, what has happened now?" Madame Pomfrey sighed.

Merlin gave her a small grin, "No, not me, Malfoy got hit by a spell," Merlin outstretched his hands and placed Malfoy on one of the cots.

Madame Pomfrey sighed, " Oh dear, at least it is a full transfiguration, this should be easy to fix, just give me a moment." She did a small wave of her wand, and suddenly Malfoy reappeared on the cot, his hair dishevelled, but otherwise fine.

Merlin nodded and quickly ran out of the room, hoping not to get up in Draco's ire.

~~.~~

"Why'd you have to ruin it mate?" Ron whined again, and Merlin just stopped himself from pinching the bridge of his nose in distress.

"As I told you the first time, and the second, and the many times after that, yes, it was funny, and yes, Malfoy might have deserved it, but he could have been killed, and forgive me if I do not want someone to die on my conscious.

Ron stared balefully at him, "But why'd you have to-"

"RON!" Merlin gave a sharp bark, startling the others in the common room, but he paid no attention, "It was the right thing to do for any person in that situation, I know you believe that Malfoy is less than scum, but he is still _human_. Now, unless you have anything new to say, I'm going to sleep."

Merlin escaped up the stares and collapsed into his bed, "Stupid teenage drama…" he murmured into his pillow.

"Um..Harry? A quiet voice rang out near him, and he rolled over to look up at Neville.

"Yes?" Harry spoke and pushed himself into a sitting position.

"I heard about what you did…" Neville began quietly, " and I guess, I'm just sort of surprise, you really changed over break you know?"

Merlin grimaced, "I just...learned there are more important things then all these stupid prejudices," Merlin allowed himself to fall back into his pillows with a whuff, "It just seems so stupid looking back on it, we are just making the problem worse, and every year the Sorting Hat calls for us to work together and it never happens…" Merlin sighed, and looked up at Neville.

The boy gave him a timid grin, "I guess it makes sense….I still don't like Malfoy though," Merlin laughed in response, "I don't either, he is a total prat, but that doesn't mean I'm just going to let people torture someone in front of me.

Neville smiled and nodded, "Well, night Harry,"

"Night, Neville."

~~.~~

Ron hadn't spoken to Merlin after that fiasco, but they still sat next to each other in class. Hermione came rushing in right before the bell, and sat down in her seat, "Sorry, I was in the-"

"Library," Merlin murmured, quieting as Mad-eye Moody entered the room.

Merlin got a bad feeling, and it only intensified as Mood placed a jar of spiders on his desk.

'Oh, sure this is a great idea, teach a group of hormonal teenagers about three of the most disgusting curses that ever existed. This couldn't POSSIBLY GO WRONG.'

Merlin sighed as Ron spoke out, "Is it called the Imperius Curse, or something?"

Moody turned to him, "Arthur Weasley's son yeah? Your father would know, caused the Ministry a load of problems."

He tipped one of the spiders from the jar into his palm of his hand, and held his hand out for them all to see.

"Imperio," he jabbed his wand at the spider, and Merlin watched as it followed his wand movements and commands with a grimace.

The rest of the class started to laugh as the spider started to tap-dance.

"Think it's funny, do you?" Moody growled, "You'd like it, would you, if I did it to you?"

The laughter immediately stopped.

"Total control…" Moody continued to move the spider around, "I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats…"

He went on to speak about how later in the year he would teach them to fight the Imperius Curse, which caused Merlin to raise a brow.

Neville spoke out next, with a quiet murmur,"There is one...the Cruciatus curse…"

Moody enlarged a spider and gave them all a full on view of it trying to scream from the pain it was under. He was stopped at last by Hermione, and Harry could see Neville shaking at his desk.

"Right...anyone know any others?" Moody called out, his one eye swinging around the room.

Merlin stared straight at him and spoke, "Avada Kedavra."

The class held their breath.

"Ah," said Moody, with a small smile on his face, "Yes, the last and the worst, Avada Kedavra...the Killing Curse."

Moody palmed the last spider, which seemed to be able to sense what would happen because it tried to scurry away.

Moody looked at it and roared, "Avada Kedavra."

A blinding green flash burst through the room, and Merlin could feel the rush of the magic through him.

The light faded, and the students stared at the dead spider laying on Moody's desk.

"Not nice," he said calmly, "Not pleasant. And there's no counter curse. There's no blocking one person has been known to survive, and he is sitting right in front of me."

Merlin stared right into the man's eyes. He could feel the stares into his back, but ignored them.

Moody gave him an appraising look, then what seemed to be a small nod of approval.

He moved the class forward, and Merlin zoned out after many calls of "CONSTANT VIGILANCE."

When the bell rang, Merlin walked quickly over to Neville, not noticing that Ron and Hermione had followed him.

"Neville…" Merlin stood next to him, and carefully placed a hand on his shoulder.

Neville looked up, with one of the most fake smiles Merlin had ever seen, " Oh, hello...That was a very ...interesting lesson don't you think? I wonder what we are having for dinner, it expect it will be good don't you?"

"Neville, are you alright?" Hermione asked quietly.

Neville's fake smile nearly broke, but he kept it on his face, " Oh yes, I'm fine, very interesting dinner, I mean lesson, what's for eating?"

Ron and Merlin shared a look, but both stared up as they hear the clunk of Moody's wooden leg.

"It's all right, sonny," he said to Neville, "Why don't you come to my office? Come on...we can have a cup of tea…"

Neville looked even more frightened.

Moody then turned his gaze to Merlin, "You alright, are you, Potter?"

Merlin nodded in confirmation, and then gave one glance at Neville, "Neville, would you like me to run down to Madame Pomfrey for a calming draught?"

Neville just gave him a quick glance, but Moody waved his hand, "Don't you mind Potter, I have a stock, come on Longbottom, I have something that might interest you."

Neville was pulled along by Moody, and Harry, Ron and Hermione shared a look.

"What was that about?" Ron mumbled, apprently forgetting he wasn't supposed to be talking to Harry.

"I don't know," said Hermione, looking pensive.

"Some lesson though, eh?" Ron turned to Harry, ""Fred and George were right, weren't they? He really knows his stuff, Moody, doesn't he? When he did Avada Kedavra, the way that spider just died, just snuffed it right-"

Ron fell silent at the look on Merlin's face and turned away.

Merlin's eyes were downcast and he shuffled along with Ron and Hermione, but soon perked up and began to engage Ron in a conversation about their earlier class of divination.

~~.~~

In the witching hour, Merlin walked a familiar path under his invisibility cloak. He had taken to sneaking into the Restricted Section of the library to try to see what had changed, and if anyone had had any knowledge of hi-Merlin.

'I so wish I had had this cloak back in Camelot, would have made things so much easier!'

Merlin smiled as he easily went around Mr. Filch, it was nothing compared to the actual guards in Camelot...who had also been a bit of a joke.

A flash of his eyes, and hewalked over to a likely looking bookshelf, using his magic on books before picking them up as to not accidentally get cursed.

'Blood magic-nope, ritual sacrifice- nah, pigeons-what?, olde magic-thank you, Avalon-interesting!, 300 ways to-OH DEAR OLD RELIGION NO, reincarnation-got it,' Merlin stuffed the books into his bag, and made sure that they were clear of enchantments.

He walked calmly back to the common room, and snuck back into bed without a sound.

"Leoght," Merlin whispered, and began to read.

~~.~~

Merlin was half asleep as Moody began to practice casting the Imperio on every student.

If Ron hadn't shoved him, he might have just continued to sit as his desk, staring blankly into the wall.

"Potter, you next," Moody growled, and Merlin moved to the front of the class.

Moody pointed his wand at him, and said, "Imperio!"

Merlin stood still, and felt the spell wash over him, and then...disappear.

He stood still for some time, and then looked up, "Um… was that supposed to do something?"

Moody was giving him what could almost be called a gobsmacked look, before his face quickly morphed into a twisted grin.

"Now, that's more like it! Look at that the lot of you, Potter fought it off! They'll have trouble controlling you!"

Moody tested Merlin a few more times that hour to make sure what he had done before wasn't a fluke, and Merlin still could feel none of the effects from the spell.

'Good to know, I guess, I mean, compared to the Lamia or the Fomorrah, that spell really isn't much…'

"Oi, Harry."

Merlin looked up as Seamus plopped down in the seat across from him.

"How'd you do it!" Seamus had a wide grin covering his face, "How did you stop him from controlling you with the curse?"

Merlin shrugged, not noticing the attention on him, "I don't really know, I don't think it worked right, actually, what did it feel like to you?"

Seamus dithered back and forth, "I felt, happy, like I wanted to do what he said."

Hermione nodded in agreement, "It felt like everything would just be better if I just did what was asked, are you saying you didn't feel that?"

Merlin shrugged again, "Didn't feel anything honestly, it just sort of, passed over."

"Well that's obviously because you don't have a brain in that thick head of yours," a familiar voice drawled from behind him.

Merlin sighed, and turned, "and hello to you to, Malfoy, you feeling any better since your...incident."

Malfoy flushed, and the rest of the Gryffindors broke out laughing.

"Don't get big-headed, Potter, or soon you will find you wont have one at all," Malfoy turned with a glare, and Merlin called after him,

"Or you might find you have donkey ears next time, then you would be a complete ass!"

Ron and Seamus sniggered heartily, and Merlin gave Hermione a small shrug to her annoyed look.

"What? He was being a prat, a complete dollop head!"

"A what?"

"A dollop head, you know."

"That's not even a word, Harry"

"Lets see in two words...Draco Malfoy."

Merlin flinched the minute he said that, and he quickly went to excuse himself from his seat.

He ran through the halls until he slid down against a wall that was in a secluded area, and wrapped his hands around his knees, his forehead pressed harshly against them.

'Stupid, stupid, stupid, idiot,' Merlin sighed and hugged his knees closer.

He had been doing pretty well, trying to forget about the past and just focusing on school, but of course he would slip up.

He missed home.

'How could I call him that...that's just wrong...I'm such and idiot." Merlin didn't cry but he did begin to rock back and forth as memory after memory broke down the barrier he had set up to block them from overwhelming him. The knights,Gaius, Gwen, and Arthur's voices and actions kept swirling around his head.

Merlin sat there for some time, not noticing as lunch finished and his next class began.

"I wonder...what happened to them...to everyone…" He spoke aloud, and then slowly uncurled from his place against the wall.

"Gotta get to class, people will start to wonder what happened to me…" and he slowly walked away.

* * *

Some dialogue comes directly out of GoF, so that most definitely doesn't belong to me!  
Getting to the fun parts soon, poor Merlin is in for hell, hang in there~

please read and review

~not necessarily in between


	4. Chapter 3

This may become m/m later, I am still trying to see if that will work out. If so, I will post it in the summary.

I own nothing~

* * *

Merlin stared at the Goblet sitting on it's pedestal in the center of the hall. His eyes kept being drawn back towards it, as if it was trying to catch his eye all on it's own.

"I can't wait to see who will be chosen as Hogwart's champion!" Hermione smiled and leaned over to grab a bit of bread.

Ron nodded, and choked down the bit of food he had in his mouth, "Bet it'll be Krum from Durmstrang."

Hermione nodded, "What do you think about Hogwarts? Harry?"

Merlin broke his one sided staring contest and absently spoke, "Cedric Diggory."

"Huh?" Ron looked up at him, "Come on mate, at least say a gryff!"

Merlin shook his head, "What? What was the question?"

Hermione sighed, "Honestly, Harry, you aren't paying attention at all lately! Ronald wanted to know who you thought would be champion, why do you think it would be Cedric?"

Merlin shrugged his shoulders with a light blush sprinkled across his face, "Dunno...just seems like it yeah?"

Merlin almost fell into his food as a heavy weight spread across his shoulders.

"Now, now Harrikins," spoke one voice.

"Don't you know it will be either my handsome self," spoke the other.

"Or the more handsome other half-"

"Such, blasphemy! I will have you know that Mother obviously thinks I am the most handsome."

"That is only because she thought you were me again,"

"It will be one of us who will be the Hogwarts Champion!" the twins finished together, and squished onto either side of Harry.

"Fred, George, have you figured out a way to cross the age line!" Ron nearly bounced in his seat.

George held up a small bottle, "Aging potion, dung brains, we just took some, we only needed a couple months anyway."

"Wish us luck," and both twins flounced away towards the cup.

Merlin had a smirk set firmly on his face, 'and now to watch them realize there are protections against aging potions on the cup.'

Fred walked towards the front of the hall, and took a big breath, then stepped over the line. George obviously thought it had worked because he let out a yell and jumped over as well, but then a large sizzling sound and a flash of light struck out, and the twins were thrown from the cup.

Merlin nearly fell out of his seat laughing at the identical beard that popped up on both of their faces.

"It's-hah-like Dragoon-the Great!" Merlin gasped between laughs, "That's amazing!"

Hermione looked over at him once again, "Who? I don't think I've ever heard of him before?"

Merlin's eyes widened " ...ah….nothing….just something from a muggle book I read."

Merlin watched as Dumbledore pointed the twins in the direction of Madame Pomfrey's and gave them a parting smile.

Ron slumped in his seat, "Damn, I guess those protections really work huh."

"Of course they do, Dumbledore himself made them!" Hermione gathered up her bag, and began to walk to there first class of the day.

"It's not like I wanted to enter anyway," Merlin smiled, and they moved on together.

~~.~~

Halloween night approached, and Merlin started to get colder and colder.

'That is not fair! This is from my last lifetime! It's not fair to still have this problem this time, this body has never even run into the Dorocha!'

Merlin pulled his scarf closer to his neck, 'Stupid leftover curse, stupid Samhain veil tear. stupid Lance-' He quickly scrubbed his hands over his face and banished the thought from his mind.

'Come on Merlin, keep yourself together,' Merlin leaned against the wall to gather himself.

"Hey, Harry, you alright?"

Merlin looked up with glazed eyes, and felt a weight on his shoulder.

Cedric Diggory peered down at him with concerned eyes, "Harry?"

"Ah," Merlin gathered himself up, "I'm fine, its just a bit chilly."

Cedric raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

"You sure? You really don't look good…"

"Thanks," Merlin replied with his normal cheeky grin to try to throw him off, but his frown just deepened.

"Haha really funny, we need to get you to the physicians-" Cedric paused in his sentence and his brows furrowed,"Nurse, sorry, Nurse."

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Merlin tried to bat his hands away, but he found himself being dragged forward.

"Oi, Diggory, What are you doing with Harry?" another voice called out, and a hand grabbed his other arm.

"He looks sick, don't you agree, Finnegan wasn't it?" Cedric looked down at the other boy.

Merlin started as face suddenly appeared close to his. Seamus peered at him for a time, before seeming to nod his assent.

"Let's go then," and Merlin found himself being dragged over to Madame Pomfrey's once again.

"Of course it is you again, Potter, what is it this time," Madame Pomfrey raised an eyebrow at the two boys surrounding him, but brushed them off for the moment.

Merlin flushed, "...it's nothing, I'm just cold."

Madame Pomfrey's eyebrow raised even higher, and she cast a few spells, "Well, it isn't a fever, and your temperature is normal. Are there any other symptoms?"

Merlin turned his face and muttered, but Seamus punched his arm, "What?"

With a sigh Merlin repeated himself, "It's like the dementors."

Madame Pomfrey stilled, and then in a heartbeat burst into action, "Those idiots! I knew that that was a bad idea, didn't even work! Oh, if I could get my hands on that Minister!"

The boys watched as Madame Pomfrey moved into the back room, and then shared a wide eyed look, but didn't have time to do anything else as she bustled back with a disgusting looking potion in her hands.

"Drink. All of it."

Merlin grimaced, but grasped the vial, and swallowed it without letting it touch his tongue.

His eyes widened and a shudder went through his entire body.

"It's...warm," He nearly fell forward and rested his elbows on his knees.

"Harry?" Cedric had a tone of worry, but he was soon hushed by Madame Pomfrey.

"It's seems Mr. Potter, that your soul was still suffering from the effects of the dementors. Prolonged exposure to them can cause serious damage to a person's soul, and after last year I should have expected this to be honest."

"So what did that potion do, heal his soul?" Seamus questioned sounding intrigued. Merlin just felt like falling over to sleep, but listened in.

With a huff, Madame Pomfrey shook her head, "Of course not, a soul is not something that can be touched with potions! It just removes the physical effects from the body. The other effects will remain for a time," with that she shot Harry a look.

"That being said, Mr. Potter, if you feel any such discomfort, you are to come here immediately, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am,"

"Good, now you two, out! Mr. Potter needs to rest, he will be fine by dinner."

Merlin saw Cedric nod, and waved as the two left the room. He collapsed back onto the bed he had been sitting on, and allowed himself to fall asleep.

~~.~~

Merlin was still a bit groggy as the Halloween feast occurred, but neither Ron nor Hermione noticed, what with all the excitement.

Merlin was shocked to note Seamus kept looking over to him, and he swore he could feel someone else staring at his back, but the only table behind him was Slytherin, so that didn't make any sense.

"Hope it's Angelina," said Fred, and Hermione quickly agreed.

Everyone watched with bated breath as the flames on the cup changed, and a huge column of fire spewed from the top. A small piece of paper fluttered out, and Dumbledore caught it.

"The champion for Durmstrang will be Victor Krum!"

"No surprises there!" Ron cried and raucous applause filled the air.

The clapping hadn't even stopped when the cup burst forth again.

"The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!"

Merlin smiled a bit as he noticed the Veela girl from the first night move forward into the private room for the champions.

The Hogwarts students were at the edges of their seats as the cup burst forth into flame for the final time, "The champion for Hogwarts, Cedric Diggory!"

Merlin let out a holler of joy, and clapped as the other boy smiled and moved to the back room.

"Excellent," Dumbledore smiled and the clapping slowly quieted, "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champion on, you will contribute in a very real-"

Dumbledore was interrupted as a another burst of fire came from the cup, and piece of paper floated gently into his hand.

Dumbledore stared at it for a time, and everyone in the hall held their breath.

"Harry Potter"

* * *

And another chapter, XD

please R&amp;R

~not necessarily in between


	5. Chapter 4

Woot! New chapter!

I own nothing~

* * *

"WHAT!?" Merlin shot up in his seat, and was the only sound in the entire great hall.

"I didn't I swear!" He turned to look at Ron and Hermione, " I didn't! You know I didn't!"

He got blank stares in response.

Dumbledore called his name, and told him to move forwards, so he did, feeling his shoulders tense with the weight of the stares upon him.

He walked into the back room, and stared at the three champions.

Cedric gave him a quick look before something seemed to flash over his face, and he almost seemed expectant.

"What is it?" Fleur moved towards him, "Do zey want us back in ze Hall?"

Mr. Bagman came into the room at that very moment, and had a large smile on his face, "Ladies and Gentleman, I would like to introduce the fourth triwizard champion!"

Krum got a strange look on his face, almost as if he half expected something like this as well. Fleur started laughing, believing it was a joke. But Cedric looked over at Harry with worry in his eyes, and went to move beside him.

"Joke," Bagman replied, "No, no, no, not at all! Harry's name came out of the Goblet of fire!"

Fleur humphed in response, "Eet must be a mistake, 'E is too young!"

Merlin flushed and shuffled back and forth, "I didn't put my name in."

Cedric gave him a strange look, but he continued to look at his feet.

Soon the room had all three headmasters join in as well, and Madame Maxime and Karkaroff began to snarl at Dumbledore for cheating in the competition.

Dumbledore turned to Harry, "Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire, Harry?"

"I didn't put my name in the cup! Use veritaserum, make me swear in my magic! I didn't enter my name, I didn't ask for anyone to enter my name!" He stood, not knowing his eyes blazed with suppressed magic, making Karkaroff move back with instinctual fear.

"Can't I just...not compete?" Merlin deflated at the look that was in Dumbledore's eyes, "What...is it a magical contract or something?"

_'Please,no, no, no, no…'_

"It seems Mr. Potter does pay attention in some of his classes," A snide voice broke out, and Snape was watching Harry with narrowed eyes.

The professors and administrators were still squabbling back and forth, but Merlin knew exactly what would happen next.

He grimaced, but looked up when a hand landed on his shoulder.

"You alright?"

Merlin let out a snort of laughter with no humor in it, "Of course, today couldn't have possibly gone better."

Cedric grimaced in response as well, and then pushed Merlin towards the other two Champions.

Fleur gave him a look, that sound turned into a grimace, "You are too young, Eet eez not right."

Merlin shrugged, and then caught Krum's eye.

"Do I know you?" The man spoke for the first time that night, and Merlin was startled.

"I-I don't think so?" Merlin shrugged, and Krum went back to his stony faced visage.

A sudden clap of hands, and the champions stood at attention while Mr. Crouch explained what the first task would be.

_'Well, not really explain, more like give vague advice, even Kilgarrah was more useful...'_

Merlin and Cedric left together, and both exited the Great Hall, they turned to part, but Cedric called out before he left, "Harry?"

Merlin turned and looked over at the other boy with weary eyes, "Yeah?"

Cedric stared at him for a time, before giving him a light smile, "Let's aim for a Hogwarts victory yeah?"

Merlin blinked and gave him a small smile in response, "No offense, but I will be rooting for you."

Cedric laughed, and the air seemed to lighten, and both went off to their respective dorms.

~~.~~

Merlin had just escaped from the party down stairs, (with his years at banquets he was quite adept at sneaking out of large gatherings) and closed the door behind him with a huff.

He was shocked to see Ron in the room, and wandered over to him, "Where've you been?"

"Oh, hello," Ron was grinning, but Merlin instantly knew it was fake.

"Ron?"

"So congratulations, how'd you get across the age line, the cloak?"

Ron stared straight at the ceiling.

"Age line? Ron, I didn't go across it I didn't put my name in the cup!"

Ron grumbled and turned over so he wasn't facing him, "Yeah, okay, you want to get to bed, Harry, I expect you'll need to be up early tomorrow for a photo-call or something."

Ron shut his hanging tight and Merlin felt the pit in his stomach grow.

'Not again…'

~~.~~

Merlin wasn't surprised when Ron avoided him that morning. He knew it was coming. It had happened in Camelot, all those years ago, when he was made Court Sorcerer. For some reason, all of his friends who were servants and other sorcerers avoided him. It had seemed to be some kind of mix of jealousy, and maybe a hint of disgust. It had taken a long time, with Arthur taking him out on hunts and the knights being their general selves, to pull himself back up.

But he didn't have them anymore.

Hermione had rushed off to do more research on house elves, while telling him to send a letter to Sirius.

He finished writing it, and had a wry smile on his face, ' I keep forgetting I have a godfather...'

He sat down in the owlery next to Hedwig, and pet her for a time, grasping the letter in his hands.

"Sorry, but is it alright if I use a less conspicuous owl? Your beautiful plumage would stand out too much."

Hedwig puffed out her chest, and seemed to agree with his request.

He fed her a few treats and then went to his classes for the day.

He ignored the stares and harsh whispers from all around him, and tried to go about his work.

Herbology was trial though, as they had it split with Hufflepuffs, who seemed to think that Harry had stolen Cedric's glory. He just kept his head down and focused on his work, easily completing the assignment and slipping out early.

He managed to get by, he didn't talk too much of anyone, even the Gryffindors, but he tried his best to ignore all of the glares at him.

The next day though, was so much worse.

It seems every house had joined up against him, they wouldn't work with him in the classes, and kept attempting to sabotage all of his work. Ron wouldn't talk to him, and the common room was just awkward with the constant questions of how he had done it wringing around, causing more tension.

The last straw was those damn badges.

"Support CEDRIC DIGGORY- the REAL Hogwarts Champion!"

"POTTER STINKS!"

Merlin stared in shock the first time he saw one, and the Slytherin's who had been sporting them laughed at his face.

Malfoy had been walking by, and Merlin felt his shoulders slump, preparing for another pompous speech and a vivid pin, but Draco just stared at him and turned to walk away.

And for some reason, that hurt more then anything else.

~~.~~

Merlin walked blindly into potions, and went about making his antidote, when a familiar voice called for him.

"Please sir, I'm supposed to take Harry Potter upstairs."

Snape was staring at Colin Creevey as if hoping he could set him fire with just a thought.

_'He could if he was me.'_

"Sir-sir, Mr. Bagman wants him, all the champions have to go-they wanna take pictures."

Snape sighed through his nose, "Very well, Potter, take your bag and get out of my sight!"

Harry grabbed his bag and ran to the door, slipping out next to Colin as the began to march towards the entrance hall.

Merlin waved at Colin, and entered the room. He looked around to see the other Champions already there, congregated at a few desks, though Krum was standing the furthest away, in the corner.

"Ah here he is! Champion number four! In you come, Harry, in you come...nothing to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony, the judges will be here in a moment."

Merlin nodded and went to stand with the other Champions when a hand with excruciatingly long fingernails grabbed his arm.

"Ah yes, this is Rita Skeeter, she is doing a little piece for The Prophet-"

"Maybe not that little, Ludo," The woman with ridiculous hair responded, and seemed to latch onto Harry with a predatory gleam in her eyes.

"i wonder if I could have a word with Harry? To add some color to the piece?"

Ludo nodded encouragingly, but before Skeeter could drag him away Merlin forced her hand off.

"I'm sorry, I don't believe there is time for a piece, the wand weighing will begin soon, I do not want to hold up the Champions from the busy schedules," Merlin said with a wide grin, hiding his annoyance.

"Nonsense, Harry, a few minutes is all I need…" a wicked grin gleamed on her face, and Merlin took a step back.

"Hey Harry, come here!" Cedric called, and Merlin rushed over towards him without a parting glance back.

"Thanks," he whispered, and Cedric looked down at him.

"You alright?" He questioned.

"Yeah, fine I really didn't want to talk to her."

"No, not that-" Cedric was cut off when Dumbledore entered.

Merlin could swear he saw true worry flit through Cedric's eyes, but ignored it.

The wand weighing was interesting, Merlin was intrigued by the different wand makers and styles, and smirked a little when Mr. Ollivander looked at his wand in confusion for sometime, before creating an enormously large dragon made of fire come out of the tip.

There were photos after photos, and Merlin was able to keep pushing the other Champions in front, no matter how hard Rita tried to pull him into the middle.

The others soon joined in, and Rita gave up altogether, but Merlin didn't notice the small smiles that were on their faces.

~~.~~

Finally they were excused to dinner, but Merlin just stared at the doors to the great hall for a time.

He didn't want to go in there.

So he turned on his heel, and walked away.

A few hours later, and Merlin found himself on a very empty floor, and completely lost.

'Should have brought my map,' he shrugged and continued to walk, his feet plodding along in the darkness.

He slowed as he moved towards what seemed to be the single picture in that hallway, and stopped moving suddenly as he really got sight of it.

It was hanging in a large golden frame, spanning from floor to ceiling, and about two meters wide. It was of a large, very familiar cave, with crystals growing out of the walls, ceiling, and floor.

Merlin stared in shock, and felt himself being pulled towards it. His breath stuttered, and his hand rested gently on the painting.

"T-tospringe" He muttered, and nearly fell to his knees as the portrait shuddered, and it became opaque.

He walked into a wide circular room, and stopped in awe. There were tables in the center of the room, made of dark wood and had lights bobbing above them, but directly in the middle was a large, circular table with runes carved into. Merlin started to breath quickly, and tore his gaze away. Directly to his left was a staircase that curled around the room, forming a curved balcony before it once again became stairs that descended on the other side of the room. Underneath the middle of the balcony was a large fireplace, its fire stuttering merrily.

And above the fireplace was the Pendragon Crest.

"Wh-a?" Merlin did fall to his knees in shock, staring at the crest.

His eyes, continued around the room, noticing multiple bookcases filled with volumes, and a door on the lower level that had a sign above it saying "Training Room."

His eyes then stuttered back up the stairs, and slightly to the left of the balcony was another door.

Merlin shakily stood, and climbed up the stairs, for some reason his breath was coming in short gasps.

His hand grasped the door and he pushed it open.

"How.." Merlin let out a blubbering sound, and then walked forward until he collapsed onto the chair placed next to the desk.

His chair. His desk.

From his room back in Camelot.

The room was two stories, the first filled with magical items and books, his desk,chairs, and small area for enchantment and experiments.

There was a ladder that led to a loft where his bed was, though it seemed the room had taken away his bathing area, probably had a communal one connected to the training rooms.

He shakily climbed up the ladder, and fell on top of the familiar quilt.

He had been very ill one Samhain, so much so he couldn't even get out of bed. He had taken to curling up in as many covers as he could, and trying to use spells to heat the room as well.

He had woken up one morning to find a large quilt draped over him, with the image of a Merlin and a dragon in flight.

He still never did figure out how to repay Gwen for that gift.

He curled up on top of the bed, and smiled a bit as he wiped away the start of some tears, and soon fell asleep.

* * *

Things are finally moving forward! The first task will be next chapter, and that is things start to get real (real bad, as well)

I hope you enjoyed it.

~not necessarily in between


	6. Chapter 5

I'm back! woohoo! My field session is over, so I will be going back to weekly or biweekly updates~

Notices: Major Ron bashing, minor Hermione bashing, and this fic will end up being light Merthur just FYI if you don't dig it, don't read it~

* * *

Merlin woke and spent a few minutes relaxing in the quiet and familiarity of his surroundings. He could almost hear Arthur pounding on the door, demanding to be let in and drag him out of bed to go work on some other strange side project. He could hear the knights grumbling about early mornings, and Gwen trying to hide her laughs about some of the knights getting completely covered in mud during their training sessions. He could even smell breakfast wafting up to his chambers, as it had whenever he had slept in too late and the other castle servants wanted to surprise him. (The fact that a happy and fed Merlin caused a less grumpy Arthur was discovered fairly early on, and the other servants were always trying to outdo each other) In fact, as Merlin laid there, the smell became so real that he reluctantly got out of bed and shuffled towards his door. He peaked around and stopped in shock.

"What?"

A small spread of bread, fresh fruit, and a couple sausages was laid out, and a glass of orange juice. There was a small letter placed on the table as well.

"Mr. Harry Potter, sir!" A shrill voice called out, shocking Merlin from his staring.

"D-Dobby?"

"Yes sir! Is Dobby! Dobby is hearing that you is moving, and Dobby is bringing you breakfast, Dobby also is moving your thingses into your room, which is an amazing room Sir!" Dobby had large grin on his face.

Merlin moved and crouched next to the house elf, "Thank you, Dobby, I'm surprised that you knew I moved."

Dobby blushed, "It isn't I sir, no, Hogwarts knows when a student switches houses! Dobby is just helping Sir."

Merlin's eyes widened in a bit of shock, before a smile returned to his face, "Well then, thank you again Dobby, I didn't know you were working here. Do you usually stay in the kitchens?"

Dobby nodded.

"Is it alright if I come by sometime to say hi?"

"O-of course sir! The great Harry Pott-" Dobby stopped and looked at him, before starting to squirm, "Is sir wanting to be called Harry Potter? Or Lord Emrys?"

Merlin's eyes flew completely open with shock, but then he laughed, "You can tell huh?"

Dobby nodded enthusiastically, "Oh, yes sir, we is creatures of magic, we all knows when you came this year you was Emrys, the great Harry Potter is Emrys! Dobby is honored to know you!"

Merlin grinned, "Just Harry, please, I really don't want to let everyone know."

Dobby grinned, and made a zipping motion over his mouth before disappearing.

Merlin smiled, and ate his breakfast, the plates vanishing when he had finished, and he took a quick shower. He read over the letter, and a small smile crossed his face as Sirius said he would try to stop by the school. Yeah, that wouldn't cause any problems whatsoever, but who was _he_ to talk about following the rules.

'Ah, another troublemaker...'

Merlin then stretched and wandered around the room, grinning at the books that filled the library, and grabbed a couple off the shelf. He still had some time before class, and wasn't like he was going to be interrupted after all.

~~.~~

Merlin stopped by the Great Hall to grab lunch instead of going back to his rooms (he had ended being late for class because he got caught up in one of the spell books he was reading, and he couldn't chance that again.) He sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table, and then saw that a bunch of Daily Prophets were lying around. Interested despite his misgivings, he grabbed one. And then immediately regretted it.

Merlin stared in disgust at the paper spread before him, His picture plastered on the front, and lines such as "too shy to even speak," "poor dear traumatized by a life without parental love," stared back at him.

"I'll show her traumatized," he growled, and he heard a surprised noise from behind him.

Draco stood there with wide eyes, obviously having overheard his statement.

Merlin swore he saw an actual smile flick over Malfoy's lips, but it was quickly hidden. He watched as Malfoy walked away, quickly flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.

'Weird.'

Merlin slinked to his next class, making sure that he wasn't followed. When he got through the day he was actually surprised that Professor McGonagall hadn't cornered him about not being in the common room. He had distanced himself from both Ron and Hermione, the former wasn't talking to him, and the latter was so caught up in her research she barely saw what was going on, so neither of them were going to be able to tattle on him. If Merlin was mean hearted he would almost call it a relief to not have to keep lying to them all the time. He went back up to his new common room, and felt himself fill with relief at just the sight of familiar objects. He jumped into one of the chairs and continued to read from where he had left off.

~~.~~

He got better and better at ignoring the stares, though he had started to use his cloak to surreptitiously move around the castle. He ignored everything that was said in the halls, used to moving around the castle without needing to listen to the babbling of other servants. Unfortunately, he didn't notice that some people were persistently looking for him, and continued hiding his movements around the castle.

A few weeks after moving into his new room, he was shocked to see that the inside of his robes had changed color, they were now lined with a bright Pendragon red, but no one else seemed to notice. He went to grab his tie, and laughed hysterically as he saw his ties had all been replaced with a multitude of colored cloths, all soft and the perfect cut for his signature piece of clothing.

"Looks like I have officially changed houses, I need to come up with a house name..." Merlin cackled, and began to pile some of the scrolls he was working on in the corner of his room.

He smiled for a time that day, which was much of an improvement, and didn't notice a very singular stare that was set on that piece of cloth coming from a neighboring table in potions. He even managed to make a decent potion that class, which was mainly a fluke because his magic tended to influence the ingredients. He really needed to work on his control.

He went down to the training rooms a few times, a large area built with protection wards and some practice dummies. He focused on getting his true magic back to normal, but found the more in tune he was with it, the less he could use his wand.

~~.~~

Merlin sighed as he trudged around the grounds in the cold winter air with his invisibility cloak still draped over him. He had woken up that morning with what he could only call an itch in his magic, and had followed it out to the woods. He walked further and further into the woods cursing the itch the entire way, but then stopped abruptly when he heard a terrifyingly familiar sound.

His shoulders dropped as he stared at four huge cages, each one with a dragon curled up inside.

'What-the-' Merlin began to move forward, but froze as he saw people were standing around the cages. He snuck forward and held the cloak closer to his body. As he moved, he saw all the dragons still, and there eyes begin to light with inner fire. One of the handlers moved away from the dragons and gave them a confused look at how they had all calmed down. Another dragon handler sidled up to him and shook his head.

"Damn, those champions are in for a fight" he said.

The other responded, "Whoever faces the Horntail better be prepared! Brooding mothers, honestly, what are they thinking?"

The previous laughed,"Yeah it will be a good show, trying to get an egg from a mama dragon, good luck to them!"

Merlin quickly turned around, and ran back towards the castle, thanking his magic the entire way. 'Dragons, really? How are they expecting kids to go up against dragons, idiots, the lot of them!'

He stopped just before the tree line ended, a small hint of familiarity encircled him, but it soon disappeared. He sighed, and slowly took off his cloak and stuffed it into his bag.

"Dragon's for the first task huh, wonder if the others know…" he peered over at the castle. He then scrunched up his face in annoyance.

'Should I...I mean...' He then sighed and trudged up the steps.

'Fine, fine,'

~~.~~

The rest of the day in between classes was Merlin searching through the castle using the Marauder's Map to try to find the other Champions.

Funnily enough, the first one he ran into was Krum, who was sitting alone in the library.

"Eh...mind if I grab a seat?"

Krum looked up with a mildly shocked expression on his face,and nodded to the seat across from him.

Merlin gingerly sat down, and then without a word set up wards to no one could hear what they were saying. Krum had a small smile on his face, but it vanished in an instant.

"Do you know about the first task?" Merlin questioned.

Krum narrowed his eyes for a minute, looking him over thoroughly, but then eventually deigned to respond, "Vhy?"

Merlin gave an aggrieved sigh and rolled his eyes, "Honestly, just, do you know what we have to do yet?"

Krum gave him a hard stare, and Merlin responded with a small snort.

Merlin nodded, and then spoke, "There are dragons, four of them one for the each of us, we have to get past them and get an egg." He fidgeted for a while, but Krum made no movement or response. Sighin, Merlin stood and made to walk away, but before he dropped the ward, Krum spoke again.

"Vhy tell me?"

Merlin shrugged without looking back, "Just because we are on opposite sides, doesn't mean we are enemies."

Then he left.

~~.~~

Fleur was harder to find, though Merlin was shocked to see her resting next to the lake, relaxing as the rest of the Beauxbatons students seemed to be moving back to the carriages.

"Excuse me, may I sit with you for a moment?" Merlin grinned when she shot him a raised eyebrow, but she flitted her hand in a "come hither" gesture, so Merlin sat awkwardly down next to her.

Fleur tilted her head and gestured with her hand again, "Vhat is eet you want?"

Merlin immediately blurted out what the first task was going to be, and was shocked into a smile at the girl's bewildered stare.

She then huffed and narrowed her eyes, "And what do you want for theese information?"

Merlin stared at her blankly, "Um...nothing?" Her glare hardened, and Merlin looked out over the lake.

Their awkward silence was broken by Fleur, "Vhy are you not affected by my allure?"

Merlin looked up at her, "Allure? What? Oh umm..I'm immune?" Merlin grinned and she raised her eyebrows at him again, but he would swear he saw a hint of amusement in her eyes.

"Very well, thank you Meester Potter."

"My pleasure," Merlin gulped and tried to not rush away in an uncoordinated fashion. (It didn't really work but it was the thought that counted).

~~.~~

The last person he had to find was what he thought was going to be the most difficult, mainly because he was wondering how to get Cedric alone.

It ended up, that that wasn't a problem at all, because the minute Cedric saw Harry, his face broke into a grin, and he walked over to the other boy and they moved away from the group he had been with.

"Hey Harry, how are you?"

Merlin shrugged, and Cedric gave him a small look, "Hmm,well, I got them to all stop wearing those stupid pins, I'm so sorry about that. Are you doing alright? I haven't seen you around."

Merlin's was a bit shocked, he hadn't even noticed that the pins were gone, but gave a small smile, "Yeah, I'm fine, been busy, I really haven't had time for wandering , I wanted to let you know the first task, it's dragons. We have to steal an egg from a dragon."

Cedric's mouth dropped open for a few seconds, startling a laugh out of Merlin, then the boy sighed, "Only you would tell the competition."

Merlin shrugged, embarrassed, but Cedric just laughed, "Well, you wont have problem at least! See ya."

Cedric waved, and walked away. leaving Merlin ever more confused then he had started.

'What? Can he possibly? No…'

~~.~~

Moody stopped Harry as he was leaving from class.

"So, Potter, you figured out what the first task was?" the man glared at him, his one eye roving over the room.

Merlin stared at him for a bit, then nodded.

Moody smirked, "Hah, figured, you're the type that gets into all sorts of trouble. You know what you are going to do?"

At that statement, Merlin smirked, a large smile covered his entire face, "Oh, yes, I certainly do."

Moody gave him a glare, but nodded, and ushered Merlin out of the room.

~~.~~

Merlin stared at the Hungarian Horntail held loosely in his grip. He noted that Cedric was sitting on his left, with Krum on his right, and Fleur perched next to him.

Cedric's face was tight with nerves, and his hand was clenched around his figurine. Krum had placed his in front of him, and Fleur had hers resting gently on her palm.

"You'll do fine, Cedric," Merlin muttered, and caught the boys eyes with a smile, "I know it."

Cedric stared at him, and his eyes seemed to haze over, "H-m-" He stuttered, and then shot forward as his name was called.

Merlin waved as Cedric left the room.

Merlin looked over at the other two, who were looking at him as well, and he shrugged.

Bagman seemed to be trying to get his attention, but he just sat and talked with Fleur about what they knew about dragons, Krum joined in with a few small tidbits every once and awhile, but then a bell rang, and a voice called out for Fleur to come forward.

Silence filled the tent, and both boys listened as the crowd screamed in delight and fear.

"You are strange."

Merlin looked up, "Hmm?"

Krum glared at him, "I know you. I have seen you before.

Merlin shrugged, "I was at the quidditch cup? In the top box?"

Krum shook his head, "No, from somewhere else. Haf you ever visited Durmstrang?"

"No, never left Britain, sorry," Merlin smiled, but Krum just continued to look at him.

Merlin nodded quickly to stop the glare he was getting. Soon, there was clapping in the stands, and Krum was called forward.

Merlin waited, staring at the roof of the tent, and then he heard the whistle blow.

He moved forward, and as he exited the tent, the crowd was cheering (and jeering) loudly, but he ignored them and faced the dragon before him.

Across from him stood a dragon, Almost as large as Kilgarrah but with a much wider girth. He knew that she would be bigger, as it ended up that female dragons were mainly the fighters with actual strength, males seemed to be more magically inclined. Kilgarrah had told him it had to do with protection of the nest, but honestly, Merlin had been more worried escaping from the raging drake then pay attention to Kilgarrah's rambling. He had a brief instant of sadness at the thought of wherever Kilgarrah was, or if he had died, before he forced his mind to focus on the task at hand.

The dragon's teeth glistened as it snarled at the people surrounding it, its back arched and its tail whipped angrily back and forth,the spikes dragging into the ground and the surrounding walls.

It had curled around a small nest, the bulk of its body wrapped tightly, almost hiding it from view.

But the minute it saw Merlin it froze.

If Merlin had been paying attention to the audience, he would have noticed the shocked silence that filled the stadium.

Merlin moved forward, his wand still in his back pocket.

He stared the dragon in the eyes, and reached out with his mind.

_:Hello:_

_:Emrys: _His name came out like a hiss from the dragon's mouth, and the dragon crept forward, its head low.

_:Yes, what is your name?:_

_:Mzorut: _the dragon replied, its head moved even closer to Merlin's head, and the crowd began to whisper in fear.

_: I am sorry to bother you, Mzorut, but I have the task of taking a fake egg from your nest, may I?:_

The dragon gently laid its head in front of Merlin, who leaned his hand down, and scratched the crest of scales above the eye.

_:You only need to order me to do so, my Lord:_

_:Please,call me Merlin, and I wouldn't order a friend;_

The dragon suddenly bounded up, it's entire demeanor changing, it quickly ducked it's head back into the nest, and gently brought forth the golden egg.

_:My-Merlin, may I ask for a favor?:_

_:What is it?:_

_:May you bless my children, so they grow strong and smart as the dragons of olde?:_

Merlin smiled and walked forward, the crowd frozen.

"Of course."

He walked directly to the nest, and with a quick flash that was covered by the dragon's bulk, he infused his magic and will into the eggs.

Mzorut gave a happy trumpet, and placed the golden egg in Merlin's hands.

Merlin petted her one last time, then exited the stadium., not noticing the eruption of cheers that started.

~~.~~

As Merlin entered the Nurse''s tent with a smirk, he was met with resounding silence.

"Mr. Potter-how?" Madam Pomfrey looked at him with shock, and then just gestured for him to take a seat while the score was being tallied.

Cedric gave him a wide wave to match the grin on his face, and Merlin was relieved to see he wasn't to badly hurt, just a tad burned. Merlin heard some noises from outside the tent, but a quick, "Competitors only," and they vanished.

"It is time, Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey called, and Merlin left the tent.

He stood, facing the audience, cheers surrounded him on all sides, 'is this how Arthur felt during his tourneys? No wonder he like them so much...'

Merlin turned to face the judges.

Madame Maxime was first, a solid nine burst out of her wand.

Merlin gave a small smile.

Mr. Crouch went next and a ten was shot into the air.

Dumbledore shot up a nine, and Bagman followed with another ten.

Karkaroff was the last, and he shot up a seven, but that didn't much deter Merlin's mood.

So what, he was a dragon lord, he had earned it!

Merlin gave a small smile and a bow, and exited the stadium.

In time to be immediately accosted by Rita Skeeter, "Mr. Potter, that was amazing, care to share your experience with the viewers."

With a twirl of gold in his eye, the quill in her hand broke in half, "No comment."

~~.~~

Before Merlin could escape to his room, he was grabbed by a bunch of Gryffindors and dragged into a party that seemed to have started the moment everyone had left the stands. People were shouting and cheering, illegal alcoholic beverages were passed left and right.

Being honest, Merlin really didn't want to be there. They had all abandoned him when he was called, letting him be pushed around by the other houses, and the minute he won he was suddenly able to be there friends again. He doubted that they had even noticed he hadn't even been living in the dorms.

He sighed and put a smile on his face, that at least, he was used to.

"So, Harry, how'd you do it!" A drunken sixth year leaned over, and the question caught everyone's attention.

"Umm, "Merlin fumbled, and looked around "Secret?"

"Aww, come on harrikinsss" George grinned from nearby, "No fun."

"prob'ly because he's a monster l'ke the dr'gns," came out a slurred tone, and the entire common room went dangerously quiet.

Merlin slowly looked over at a far table to see Ron staring heatedly at him, "W-What?"

"You h'rd me! You're prob'ly a freak, a monst'r like the dragons, th'ts why they let you get the egg."

Merlin stared and slowly felt himself rise from the table he had been sitting at, and promptly leave the room behind, ignoring the yelling that was going on as he shut the portrait.

He needed to get out of there.

~~.~~

He didn't know where he was walking, but he trudged forward at a slow pace, his hands trembling, but his eyes were suspiciously dry.

He looked up with a start to see the night sky, and was surprised to see he had travelled all the way up to the astronomy tower.

"Hah," he let out a small laugh.

Another soon followed, and he dropped to his knees, his entire body trembling.

His laughs soon became full on sobs, making his chest heave with every breath.

"I can't, I can't do this again," he cried out between sobs, his voice echoing around the still tower.

He fell back onto his butt and dragged his knees into his chest. Sobs left him, broken and quivering.

Everything finally caught up to him.

He was alone.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, what did I do?What did I do to deserve this?" Merlin's broken cries were not muffled in the least by his knees, and his breath was getting harder and harder to catch, "What kind of fucking destiny is this huh? Am I just your play toy to put into bad places when things go to shit! WHY?" He shouted out the last questions, but then fell back into an exhausted heap, trembling and crying, holding his knees close to his chest.

"I wanna go home," he whispered, and he felt himself begin to shatter completely.

"No, no ,no ,no, MERLIN."

Merlin was heaving and sobbing, not noticing as two hands gently dusted over his face.

"Merlin, look at me, Merlin!"

Merlin breath cracked each time he tried to draw it, but he could feel himself growing faint.

Suddenly, he was engulfed in warmth, strong arms surrounded him, pulling him forwards. He couldn't open his eyes, so he just let whoever was there hold him tight.

"Shhh, Merlin, shhh, I'm here, I promise, I wont leave this time, I swear."

Merlin shivered and the arms drew him closer, until he was almost sitting in someone's lap.

"Merlin, breathe, deep breaths thats it."

Merlin listened to the voice and began to still, his body slumping against the warmth that surrounded him.

"Merlin?"

Merlin hazily opened an eye, the face before him was hard to see, so he rubbed his hands over his eyes, still hiccuping quietly.

"Merlin, Merlin, you idiot."

And with that phrase Merlin froze as a head burrowed itself in his neck.

"N-no. Th-that's not…"

A small laugh came from trembling lips near his neck, "Out of all of the things we've done, you think this is impossible?"

"A-Arthur?"

"In the flesh," the head began to pull back, and them Merlin caught his first look at the man sitting across from him, "Or Draco Malfoy, if you prefer."

"Mal-?"

Merlin was cut of as Draco-Arthur rested his forehead against Merlin's, "'m sorry, Merlin, I was such a prat"

Merlin let out a startled laugh, and then more tears fell from his eyes.

"Clot pole."

Merlin grasped Dr-Arthur's cloak and rested his head back on his shoulder.

"H-how?"

Merlin felt Arthur rest his head against his hair.

"I think I've been remembering for a while, to be honest, the night I saw you at the quidditch match is when it really started," he let out a small laugh, "I was really confused! One moment I hated you, the next I wanted to stab anyone who looked at you funny!"

Merlin let out a small laugh as well.

Arthur continued, "It was with the dragon that I really remembered, I saw you with it and I just, saw everything. I was going to find you tomorrow, but I suddenly got a horrible feeling that you were being stupid again…" Arthur drew back as he spoke and raised Merlin's face to look in his eyes.

"Speaking of that, why are you up here?"

Merlin shrugged, "Ron was being an ass."

Arthur's eyes narrowed, but he sighed, knowing he wouldn't get anything else out of his wayward warlock.

"Come on, you, you look like you are about to fall asleep, the top of a tower is not the place for that...though it has happened more times than I can count" Arthur grumbled out the last part lightly and grabbed his arm and dragged him up, grimacing as Merlin staggered.

"I need to get back in shape," Arthur thought out loud as he practically carried Merlin down the stairs.

"Well you know what I always said," Merlin responded in a quiet voice, but managed to poke Arthur's stomach.

Arthur grinned and heaved Merlin closer, "Shut up, _Mer_lin."

A huffing laugh was the only response.

They had made it to the fifth floor before Merlin began to pull him in a different direction.

"And where are we going?" Arthur raised an eyebrow, but allowed Merlin to lead the way.

He stopped, and stared at a large portrait, "Is that-" And followed as Merlin nearly fell through it.

Merlin gave a tired smile at the look on Arthur's face as he stared around the common room, his eyes glancing over the round table, the crest, the books and other items scattered about.

"What? Merlin, this is?"

"I've been living here," Merlin muttered, slowly stumbling towards the stairs, " Haven't been a Gryff for a while. Don't know what to call this house yet..."

Arthur huffed again, and walked next to him as he unsteadily climbed the stairs.

Arthur gasped as he saw Merlin's room, and then laughed at the look on Merlin's face at the next set of stairs.

Merlin collapsed in his bed, utterly spent.

He heard noises from near by and felt the bed dip down.

"mmhm?"

"Go to sleep, Merlin, I'll be here when you wake up."

Merlin finally lost himself to sleep, not even noticing when Arthur collapsed next to him.

Arthur stared down at his sleeping friend, and sighed. He rubbed a hand through Merlin's hair, and smirked at the mutter he made.

"Idiot."

* * *

Hello! I'm back! How awesome is that!

Anyway, this is the start of the actual story (it took so long to get here~) and the rest of the plot is starting to catch up which is awesome. Soon the Knights will come back, which is going to be hysterical.

Will Hogwarts survive? Probably not XD

Thank you so much for reading!

~not necessarily in between


	7. Chapter 6

Sort of early chapter so I don't have to post when getting ready for the fourth! If I named chapters, this would be called: Reunions, and screwing with Snape

* * *

Merlin awoke, warm and rested. He didn't want to move at all, and snuggled closer to the heater next to him. He made a contented noise, and allowed his mind to drift. He smiled at the remembrance of the dragon, but then his body jerked in the thought of what happened afterwards.

It wasn't possible...was it?

He let out a huff of breath, and suddenly his furnace squirmed.

It made an annoyed noise followed by a "shut up, _Mer_lin, trying to sleep…"

Merlin's head jolted up and he looked around in surprise. He stared in shock. Draco Malfoy was laying next to him, curled up under the warm quilt and comforter. His head was smooshed into the pillow, and he looked like he was trying to drown out all of the noise that surrounded them.

But it wasn't Draco Malfoy.

He could feel it now, the bond between them, the magic that had made it possible for them to find each other even 1500 years down the line.

A smile crept over his face, and he leaned down; there was only one thing to do in this kind of situation.

"UP AND AT 'EM LAZY DAISY!"

"MERLIN!" Arthur jumped up, nearly clobbering Merlin in the head. He looked around wildly, and then looked at Merlin in complete and utter shock. Merlin expected his mind was going through the same process - my archenemy is now definitely not my archenemy how come these things happen to me- train of thought. After a few seconds a familiar scowl flitted across the blonde's face, and he started to look around for something to throw.

Merlin smirked, and began to squirm out of the bed to get away from Arthur's wrath, but Arthur let out an enraged, "Oh, no you don't!" and grabbed Merlin by the arm, pinning him. Merlin gave out a started laugh, and Arthur smirked before thwapping him on the head.

"I-I had to do that, I had to!" Merlin laughed, and then managed to squirm out of the bed and fell roughly onto the floor.

Arthur looked down at him with his smirk firmly in place. He easily got out of the bed and looked at the lump of Merlin that was tangled up on the floor.

"Come on, I'm starving," Arthur grinned and grabbed Merlin's hand to help lever him up.

Merlin smiled as the exited the room, "Some things never change."

When the entered the main room, two separate breakfasts were already in place on the Round Table. Arthur looked a bit perturbed at using the symbol of his power as a place to eat breakfast, but that didn't last long.

They ate the meal in companionable silence, and when they were finished Merlin began to fiddle with the silverware. Arthur's eyebrow slowly rose higher and higher, until he let out a put upon sigh.

"So, _Mer_lin, do I get a tour?" Arthur drawled, and Merlin looked up from the magical floating silverware circus.

He gave a small shrug, "It's not like there is much here, honestly, over there is the staircase to the training room, and upstairs is the door to my room and next to it...there's another door," Merlin stared at the new door that had appeared next to his on the balcony.

"hm?" Arthur followed where he was looking.

Merlin got up from his seat and walked back up to overlook. He went up to the door, opened it cautiously, and began to laugh hysterically.

"What is it now, Merlin?" Arthur climbed the stairs to follow him.

"Your room has arrived, your Majesty," Merlin said, and Arthur walked up to the room with raised eyebrows.

"Ah."

A large bed was the centerpiece of the room, a desk set off to the side. The bed was covered in deep red linens, and the Pendragon crest was mounted along the side wall. There were bookcases next to the desk, and windows that looked out over the lake and forest. In the distance, the tops of houses from Hogsmeade could be seen as well.

"I guess I am moving in…" Arthur looked around the room, and Merlin could see his shoulders relax at the familiarity of his surroundings.

"Your stuff is here!" Merlin exclaimed, and pointed to the trunk set next to the desk.

"...Snape is going to kill me. How am I going to explain that I have transferred to a new house, can you transfer to a new house?" Arthur looked over at Merlin, who shrugged.

"I guess so? Look, your uniform changed as well."

Arthur looked down at his robes that he was still wearing from the night before, and was shocked to see them having a vibrant red lining. He walked over to his trunk and pulled out a tie, sighing in relief.

"Thank Gods I don't have any of those gods forsaken neckerchiefs," spoke Arthur, and he pulled out a vibrant red tie with a golden dragon depicted in relief.

Merlin smiled, "I don't know what you are talking about."

Arthur glared,but began to move around the room, seeing if it was truly as he remembered.

"...what am I supposed to tell Professor Snape? In fact, how has Professor McGonagall not notices you aren't in the dorms anymore?" Arthur suddenly spoke, and Merlin stopped dead.

"Uhh…." Merlin shrugged when Arthur turned to glare at him, "Say it was Hogwart's idea?"

Arthur continued to stare, causing Merlin to fidget.

"What?"

"You are an idiot."

"Dollop head."

"But really? How?" Arthur grimaced and sat on the bed, "This really doesn't make any sense...oh gods, my parents," Arthur looked up at Merlin with fear apparent in his eyes.

"You're Harry Potter"

"Yes, thank you for noticing, I thought that was apparent with the scar and all," Merlin drawled, but he did sit down next to Arthur.

"You moron, you are Harry Potter, my parent's are DEATH EATERS. I'm supposed to be next in line...gods I am an idiot!" Arthur cradled his head in his hands.

"Arthur?" Merlin carefully placed his hand on Arthur's shoulder.

"How- how is this even supposed to work Merlin?" Arthur sighed, "I was a completely different person this time, almost the opposite of last-"

"Well except for the father things, and the being a prat, and that smirk you get, and getting told off by me all the time-" Merlin began to list off with a small smile, but Arthur clouted him over the head. "Hey! And the hitting!"

"Merlin," Arthur growled out, and Merlin made a zipping motion over his lips. Arthur then continued, "I _hated_ you, and I have magic now, and am from one of the longest lines of magic. I was going to join a psychopath and help him destroy everything we ever worked for!"

Merlin quieted at the the half shouted words, then he glared harshly into Arthur's face "Arthur, I am going to say this in the nicest terms possible, but the you that was Draco was scarily familiar to the you before, well, me, I guess," he flushed a little, and Arthur gave him a look, but Merlin continued," just, at least this time you learned before you were too far into the regime? You have a chance to make changes now, and I _know_ you, and now that you are all, well, _you_, you will be able to change this world for the better. So what if you were a prat before, you've made the world a better place before, and I know you can do it again."

Arthur sighed out a breath, and then leaned against Merlin's side in a solid line of heat, "I always wonder how you manage to give the most inspiring speeches, and yet come up with the worst insults possible." He gave Merlin a small nudge that forced at an indignant noise.

"I think..." Merlin spoke out after a small silence, "I think you should tell your parents, though."

Arthur looked at him with one eyebrow raised, but he contemplated the idea, "That does have some merit..." He stared off for a bit before nodding slowly, "If they only follow Voldemort because they think he will keep our family safe, proving that I'm Arthur, and you are the bloody god of the wizarding world will probably make them change their minds..." Arthur ran a hand through his hair, then he looked at Merlin, "What did you tell your guardians?"

Merlin blanched, and fidgeted, "They... wouldn't care, either way...they don't need to know." He grimaced, and could feel Arthur staring at him.

"You know what's interesting, _Mer_lin," Arthur drawled, and Merlin squirmed even more, but was abruptly stopped when Arthur's hand tightened around his bicep, "I don't think I've ever heard _anything _about your guardians."

"There isn't really anything to hear, you prat, they are just some people, nothing interesting at all," Merlin sighed and forced out a grin, completely ignoring the look on Arthur's face.

Arthur let out a sigh, and the previous conversation was dropped "All right, come on, I need to stop by my dorm and somehow explain to Professor Snape that I am not going insane, and I have moved out of the House…" Arthur rubbed a hand over his face, "They are going to think I've gone insane."

"Good thing I already knew that!" Merlin chirped, and then yelped as he was dragged out of the portrait.

~~.~~

"Uh, Arthur, taking me to see Snape is not the best plan in the world… he doesn't really _like_ me..."

"I know that, idiot, but like hell I'm going to leave you alone after how I found you," Arthur broke off and gave Merlin a questioning look.

Merlin grimaced, and followed behind Arthur, "It was nothing, just something stupid, don't worry."

"I'm not worried," Arthur quickly replied, falling back to their usual banter, "I am just _interested_ in finding out what happened."

Merlin gave him a helpless look, "Nothing, really."

Arthur glared at him, but dropped the conversation. Merlin knew it wasn't over, however, Arthur was stubborn to a fault. He sighed and followed Arthur's brisk pace.

"It's going to be hard to call you Draco you know," he spoke out after a moment.

Arthur smirked at him, "Well, I am going to continue to call you _Mer_lin, so at least you will be able to not forget your own name."

"What? Why?"

"Everyone else will probably think I'm making fun of you, so it should be fine," Arthur shrugged and continued walking.

"Ar-" Merlin was caught off when someone yelled and tackled him, making him fall to the floor in a heap of limbs and cloth.

"I've been looking everywhere for you! Are you alright? Should I set that idiot on fire...what are you doing with Malfoy?" A voice spoke from nearby, disgust evident in the last phrase.

Merlin looked up in confusion, and saw Seamus Finnegan sprawled on the floor nearby, staring up at Malfoy with a grimace on his face. He then rolled over to look at Merlin, and a grin soon replaced the grimace.

"Seamus?" Merlin got up gingerly, and the other boy remained sprawled on the floor, "are you...ok?"

The grin quickly faded into a scowl, and Seamus got to his feet, "No I am bloody NOT ok, I've been looking for you all night! After I slugged Ron in the face, I tried to find you, but you had vanished! Like magic!" He gave a small grin at the last statement, but Merlin was looking at him with an intense face.

"Dissent in Gryffindor, how cute," Arthur spoke up for the first time since the amazing flying tackle.

"He bloody well deserved it! After what he said! Why do you even care, in fact, what are you doing together?" Seamus glared at Arthur, but Merlin's eyes began to widen in shock.

He cleared his throat, "...Gwaine?" It came out a bit more high pitched then he would like, but Arthur's squawk of surprise far outweighed his noise on the embarrassment scale.

"No, not possible," Arthur spoke quickly, but the look on Seamus's face makes him groan, "why Gwaine, why him out of all the knights."

Gwaine raised an eyebrow and then started, and gave out laugh, "Oh, oh please, please tell me little daddy's boy Malfoy is the princess, please, I am going to _die _laughing!"

"Gwaine!" Merlin shouted, and grabbed the other student in a hug.

Gwaine smiled, and lifted Merlin off of his feet, "Look at you shortie. Come on princess, I know you want to join."

Arthur held his head in his hands, "Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?"

Merlin flailed out of Gwaine's hug, and straightens his clothing with a small smile, "It is good to see you too, Gwaine."

Gwaine nodded, then let out a huge yawn, and Arthur sighed, "Go get some sleep, we can meet up later and talk about everything that is going to happen."

"That an order, _sire_?" Gwaine grinned, and ruffled Merlin's hair, "Don't let the mean old Slytherin pick on you, o-" Then he looked down at Merlin and Arthur's robes, "not a Slytherin? I wanna join the club!"

Merlin smiled, "Go to sleep Gwaine, like Arthur-Draco-"he grimaced,"said, we can meet later."

Gwaine huffed, but then gave a mockery of a bow to Arthur, and shuffled down the hallway until he was out of sight.

Arthur gave out another long sigh, and leaned back against the wall of the hallway.

Merlin grabbed his arm and began to drag him, "Come on Arthur, it's just Gwaine."

"'Just Gwaine,' he says," Arthur mumbled in reply, and then noticed their surroundings and gave Merlin a searching look, "Merlin, how do you know where the Slytherin Dorms are?"

Merlin froze, and a goofy smile stretched across his face, "Ummm..."

Arthur grimaced, and grabbed him by the hand, "Never mind, I do NOT want to know, anyway, Professor Snape won't be here, his rooms are further down this way."

Merlin smiled and let himself be lead down the corridors. Arthur stopped in front of an intimidating stone door, and looked back at Merlin.

"Any plans?" Arthur questioned.

"Wing it and see what happens?" Merlin grinned, but suddenly the door before them sprang open, and Merlin and Arthur jumped apart in shock.

"Draco...and Potter, " The man standing in the doorway looked at them both, one lone eyebrow raised up.

Merlin went bug-eyed, and looked over at Arthur, who was unhelpfully looking at him.

He sighed and straightened his shoulders, "Ar-Draco has something he needs to talk to you about-sir," he swallowed, and Snape's other eyebrow joined his first, and he looked from one boy to the other in suspicion.

Arthur luckily took over, "I do need to talk to you about something Sir, and I think it would be best not to do it in the hallway." He grimaced a little, but looked back up to Snape.

Snape stared at them for a short while, and then abruptly moved from the doorway back to his desk. Arthur gave Merlin a look, and then followed him, whilst Merlin came in last and shut the door behind him.

Merlin gingerly sat on a seat on the other side of Snape's desk, and looked around the room with interest.

"You said you wanted to speak, don't waste time and say it," Snape looked suspiciously from Merlin to Arthur, but settled his eyes on the latter, probably trying to ignore the former was there at all.

Arthur scowled, and then shuffled a bit, "Well...I'm not sure how to explain this well but..." he fidgeted again, and then sighed and squared his shoulders, "It seems that Hogwarts has decided that I should switch houses, and so I am no longer living in the Slytherin dorms."

Snape sat back with shock, and it was the first time Merlin had seen that expression on his face, it cleared quickly into what looked like the beginning of anger, "You switched houses? I've never heard of that happening before," he then glared fiercely at Merlin, "Are you telling me that you have somehow ended up with those dunderheads in Gryffindor?"

"No, nope, definitely not a Gryffindor, it is called..." he stopped and looked over to Merlin, "What is the house called?"

Merlin looked around wildly before blurting out, "PRATDRAGON."

Arthur let out a strangled noise, and even Snape looked confused.

"What do you mean _Pratdragon_," Arthur growled, and Merlin let out a snigger, "Merlin! What kind of name is that?"

"A lovely and majestic one, my lord," the title was loaded with sarcasm, "fit only for a king."

"That is not the name!" Arthur growled, "something else."

"Nope!" Merlin grinned, "That's it, House Pratdragon, house of people who could fit into a bunch of different houses! Like A-Draco, he could be a Gryff, or a Puff, but he is a Slytherin, and I could have been a Slytherin, but I'm a Gryffindor."

Merlin smiled and nodded to himself, and Arthur was about to launch himself from his chair, when a third voice that they had almost forgotten in their bickering caused them to freeze.

"What do you mean _Merlin_?" Snape's frigid tone caused both of the boys to turn sharply towards him, and flinch at the look on his face, "Because if you are somehow stating that Mr. Potter has the powers of Merlin..." he trailed off with his threat filling his voice.

Arthur grimaced, and then ran a hand through his hair, "I...I can't tell you unless you make an oath that anything you hear here you won't communicate to anyone without our permission."

Snape's glare hardened, "And why would I agree to these terms, it seems to me that you have both been caught under some spell or curse that makes you delusional, why should I not just send you both to Saint Mungos straight away?"

Merlin suddenly gave Snape a small smile, "Because if you do, you will never learn how I managed this."

Without a word, Merlin's eyes turned gold, and spinning orbs of light began to orbit around the room. There were multiple colors and sizes, and they spun and twisted until they formed together right over Merlin's hand. The orb twisted and spun until it was the shape of a dragon, which roared, and then vanished into smoke.

Merlin looked back up at Snape, whose mouth was moving up and down without words coming out. A short time later he was able to speak, and a quiet whisper filled the room, "That's impossible."

Merlin smiled and shrugged.

Arthur took over at that point, "Sir, it would really be a lot easier to tell you everything, in fact, I want to tell you, but we can't do it unless you swear an oath."

"Honestly, it is just a little thing, we just need to be careful how it gets out," Merlin's face blanched, "oh gods, the fame, the fortune, the terror, ouch!" Merlin rubbed his head where Arthur had whacked him, "Do not abuse me you prat! So be it, I'm going to out you first!"

Arthur stared, "And then you would be outed at the same time, idiot."

Arthur turned back to Snape, "Honestly, Sir, it would truly be easier just to actually know what was going on."

Snape took a moment and stared between the two of them, and then let out a breath.

Snape sneered, and pulled out his wand, "I, Severus Snape, do so swear on my magic that I shall not communicate anything I have learned in this meeting." He glowered at them, and then leaned back in his chair.

Arthur went straight for the jugular, "Harry and I are the reincarnations of Merlin and Arthur, Gwaine is around too, apparently, and that means the rest of the Round Table is probably around causing havoc," Arthur grimaced, and Merlin shrugged, taking over, "I remembered during the summer, and apparently Arthur -Draco! Gods!- fully remembered after the task last night. We have our own set of rooms, which I have been living in for a while, and Arthur was just moved in as well."

Merlin took a deep breath and stopped his diatribe, his face burning red.

The only movement on Snape's face was the miniscule twitching of his eye.

So Merlin continued, "So the thing is is that Draco is no longer a Slytherin, and McGonagall never noticed the fact that I left the dorms, and no one else has seemed to notice the fact that my uniform has changed, but you would notice if Draco just started disappearing, and we really didn't know how to tell you.." Merlin trailed off and gave a dubious grin.

Snape stared at him for a bit longer, "Are you quite finished?"

Merlin blushed.

Arthur sighed, and elbowed Merlin who let out a noise of protest, and Arthur took out his wand.

"I swear on my magic that I am the reincarnation of Arthur Pendragon, and that Harry is the reincarnation of Merlin Emrys," then Draco cast a simple levitation charm, and stared back up at Snape.

Snape looked from one boy to the other, and stood from his desk,moving to the cupboard in the back of the room. He sat down again with a glass and a large bottle of firewhiskey. He poured himself some and drained the cup.

"I...am forced to believe this farce, or at least the fact that you two believe it, and that the castle believes it as well. Very well Mr. M-" Snape sighed and ran a hand over his face, "Mr. Malfoy, but I stipulate that you should still attend classes on your normal schedule. It may be best to look into the original Hogwart's charter about a fifth house, so if any of the other teachers notice there is a way to explain how you have managed to switch houses. I will not be speaking a word of this, but I pray that when you try to explain this to your parents, you come up with a better excuse." Snape kneaded his forehead.

"Soooooooo," Merlin drawled out the word, causing Snape to look up at him, "would you like to know anything? I mean..." he trailed off when Snape raised his hand.

"No, not now Mr. Potter, " his face twitched, "I believe I will be spending the rest of my day in here, trying to forget that this conversation happened." He looked up, "However, I believe I reserve the right to ask you questions about 'this' in the future."

Arthur nodded and grabbed Merlin's arm, "Right well, sorry to ruin your morning Professor, and uh...thank you."

Merlin wouldn't exactly call it fleeing, but he and Arthur broke record time to get to the Great Hall from the dungeons.

"That may have been more nerve wracking then the council meeting where I said we were going to allow magic back in Camelot," Arthur sighed, and Merlin made an assenting noise.

They looked back and forth from each other, and Merlin couldn't stop the giggle that escaped his lips.

"D-did you see his face!" Merlin didn't even try to hold back a smile.

Arthur shook his head, but a grin wound its way on his face as well.

"Me-Harry!" A voice called out from behind them, and Arthur and Merlin turned as one to see Cedric Diggory racing towards them.

"What do you want, Diggory?" Arthur drawled, but raised an eyebrow in surprise as all the older teen did was laugh.

"Nice to see you too, Sire." Cedric had a grin that spread over his entire face, he then turned to Merlin, "And you too, Merlin, it has been a while, hasn't it?"

Merlin stared, his eyes nearly popping out of his skull, and it was Arthur who responded, "Lancelot?"

Cedric grin became even wider, causing his eyes to crinkle, "Yes, sir, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you are here as well, we never saw you two apart to begin with," he then raised his brows, "but to be Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, who would have guessed."

Merlin got over his shock, and in an instant flung his arms around Cedric's shoulders, "This is amazing!" He pulled back with a large grin, and even Arthur (who was rolling his eyes) was sporting a smile.

"So now we have Gwaine and Lancelot," Merlin's grin widened, and Cedric looked at him in shock.

"Gwaine is here?"

Arthur nodded, "You know that idiotic Gryffindor who is obsessed with rum, and sets things on fire all the time?"

Lancelot nodded, and then his eyes widened, "Finnegan! He was the one who helped me take Merlin to the Hospital wing!"

Arthur froze, and Merlin flinched, and Arthur whirled around, "Hospital Wing?"

Merlin fidgeted, but sighed at the look on Arthur's face, "I...it was Samhain...and the dementors...they were so like the Dorocha." Merlin grimaced and Lancelot's face blanched.

"Ah," Arthur winced.

Merlin forced a smile onto his face, "But if it wasn't for them I probably wouldn't remember so~" he trailed off.

Lancelot coughed, even though his smile was unsteady, and easily switched topics.

Lancelot looked over at his two friends from his previous life, "Do you think anyone else is here? The odds are looking to be in our favor."

Merlin grinned, "Well, Percival will probably be found either working out, or sitting quietly somewhere, he might be a Puff?"

Lancelot joined in, "Leon is probably herding kids around, or maybe actually focusing on his school work, what do you say, a Gryffindor? A Ravenclaw?"

"Do you think Gwen is here as well?" Merlin continued, Arthur shrugged, "Could be a Gryffindor or a Hufflepuff." Lancelot nodded in agreement.

Arthur spoke out quietly, "I wonder if Mordred and Morgana are here as well..."

Merlin's entire body flinched, and his mind seemed to freeze.

How- how could he have forgotten them! He was so focused on Voldemort, and trying to figure out what he was doing he had completely forgotten about Mordred and Morgana. If the knights were back as well as Arthur, it stood a chance that Mordred, Morgana, maybe even Morgause and Nimueh would be back as well. Merlin's fists clenched, and he could feel his breath coming in short gasps. His vision started to tunnel, and he couldn't hear what was going on around him.

Then he felt a warm hand resting on his face, and was able to look up into Arthur's worried eyes.

"Merlin?" Arthur rested his other hand on Merlin's shoulder, and Lancelot was stood close as well.

Merlin shuddered again, and allowed himself to be dragged to drape over Arthur.

"Let's go back to the common room, you still look exhausted," Arthur spoke, and Lancelot quickly went to Merlin's other side.

Merlin was still out of it, so he didn't notice the worried glances that were exchanged over his head.

~~.~~

Lancelot gaped at the common room after they had carefully put Merlin down into one of the armoires.

"This, this is amazing!" Lancelot smiled, and rubbed a hand over the Round Table.

"I can honestly say, out of all the things that have happened in both lives, this is by far the least likely thing I could ever expect to happen," Arthur spoke quietly, sitting at one of the tables that littered the main floor.

"So when did you remember?" Lancelot moved to the table as well, keeping an eye on the slumbering boy.

"I truly remembered last night, but before that I was remembering bits and pieces," Arthur scrubbed a hand over his head, "Something happened last night, I could feel his magic calling out for help, and so I followed it to find him."

Lancelot nodded, his face stern, "I felt it too, just after the task, something just felt wrong, and I remembered, but I couldn't leave my common room," he grimaced, "Apparently I should have tried harder."

"Gwaine knows what happened, apparently," Arthur spoke after the brief silence, and sighed, "I should probably go and try to find him at lunch."

Lancelot gave a quiet laugh, "Sire, I mean, Draco, it might be best if I was to get him, after all, you were a Slytherin, people would probably think you are up to something."

Arthur groaned, and nodded in agreement, "this is just confusing," he took a breath and brought himself together, "From what we both experienced, I'm led to believe that anyone who was here in the castle when Merlin...when what happened happened, they probably woke up. So we need to keep our eyes out for anyone who could be from before."

Lancelot nodded his assent, and then grinned, "So, is it all right if I place all of my bets for the tournament on Merlin, I mean..." he trailed off, and Arthur smirked.

"That is true, sorry Lancelot, I don't think this is a competition you can win, how ridiculous is this!" Arthur laughed, "We are all wizards, except Merlin is still the most famous wizard of the time, and if they found out who he actually was, everyone would go bloody insane."

Lancelot chuckled, but stopped and looked over to make sure Merlin was still asleep, "Well then, Sire, I am going to head to lunch to see if I can't stop Gwaine before he does something stupid."

Arthur shot him a serious look, "You know that is impossible, but good luck."

~~.~~

Lancelot didn't even try to stop the smile that was stretched over his face, it was such a relief to finally know what was going on. The past few months had been beyond confusing, and it finally seemed like things were looking up.

He walked towards the Great Hall, when he was stopped in the hallway.

"Cedric!" a familiar voice called out, and he turned to see Angelina Johnson moving towards him.

"Yes?" Cedric turned to face her, and noticed she looked quite out of breath.

"You, have you perchance seen Harry around?" her hands moved to fiddle with the hem of her robes, "I haven't seen him since last night, and even before that..." she trailed off, but stood firm in her questions.

Lancelot froze and tried to think of something to say, then he stopped altogether. He then choked out a laugh, "All right, well, if this is what I think it is, this is amazing, and if it isn't then this is going to get extremely confusing."

Angelina tilted her head, and lifted an eyebrow at him, which made him chuckle, "Well, you see, I do know where Harry is at the moment, as well as Draco Malfoy. But what you were really asking is where is Merlin, isn't it?"

Angelina stared at him blankly, "But-"

"Guinevere, it certainly has been a while, my lady," Lancelot shifted down and lifted her hand, kissing the knuckles.

"Lancelot," she barely breathed as she spoke, but his smile made her break out into startled laughter.

"Well, this, this I didn't expect!" She laughed again, and Lancelot motioned them forwards, "Well then Cedric," she grinned at the name,"what are you doing over here?"

"Fetching Gwaine as it would be, Seamus Finnegan, Arthur and I think it would be best to grab him before he explodes something."

Gwen gave a full bodied laugh at that, "I think he will explode something anyway, just because he wants to!"

Lancelot sighed, "...probably."

Gwen was quiet for a time as they approached the hall, and then let out a breath, "Wait, are you, did you mean that Draco Malfoy is Arthur?"

Lancelot let out a small laugh, "Yes he is, I was shocked when I saw him and Harry Potter bickering like children."

Gwen shook her head, "The school is not going to be prepared at all, is it?"

"No, certainly not."

They entered the Hall together, and Gwen easily spotted Gwaine, who was poking at his drink with his wand, "here, I'll go fetch him, I'm in the same house after all," and she moved off.

Lancelot kept near the doors, and gave out a huff when Gwaine looked in shock at Gwen, and then nearly bounced out of his seat.

"Lancelot," a voice spoke from behind him, and Lance spun, his hand automatically going to where his sword would be, but flushed as he grabbed open air.

Victor Krum was leaning against the wall, a small smile on his face.

"Percival?" the other man grinned, and Lancelot shook his head in amusement, "I guess you should come too, Gwen is getting Gwaine, and then I'm headed back up to the common room."

Percival nodded, and followed as Gwen hauled Gwaine out of the Great Hall.

The four friends ignored the whispers that followed their retreat.

* * *

Alternate titles- "The one where almost every other expression was grimaced, and then the author swore."  
or -"The one where the author accidentally wrote the entire middle part in present tense, and then the author swore."  
or - "The one where the author decided that Gwen had to be a badass, and then the author swore with victory"

There was a lot of swearing this chapters

OK! So far we have:

Merlin - Harry Potter (The boy who lived... and lived...and lived...)  
Arthur - Draco Malfoy (a.k.a Prat)  
Lancelot - Cedric Diggory (Kill the spare? mwahahahahaha)  
Guinevere - Angelina Johnson (she is a badass, punks better watch out!)  
Gwaine - Seamus Finnegan (Could he be anyone else?)  
Victor Krum - Percival (Strong silent type, should he be cursed to never wear sleeves?)

At the moment I am working on four different fics *kicks muse* so I will try to stay on track with this one, but I'm sorry if I get distracted!

I hope you enjoyed it!

~not necessarily in between


	8. Chapter 7

More buildup and more characters!  
And I have been trying to stick with the names from Merlin, to make it less confusing, but if it is still confusing please let me know.

* * *

Arthur went to sit down next to Merlin, who had curled up in the armchair soon after Lancelot had left. He was hiding his head in the cushions, but Arthur poked his side continuously until he finally poked his head up with an unamused look on his face.

"What."

Arthur raised a single eyebrow, and Merlin sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. He scrunched his face up and whispered, "Sorry, I... I just can't believe I forgot about them... I got so excited that you all were back, and then I can't believe I forgot!"

Arthur sighed and leaned back in the chair, Merlin copying him after a few minutes.

"Well, no matter what happens this time, Merlin, you are stuck with all of us, and at least we know what we are up against."

" 'cept Voldemort," Merlin drawled, and Arthur smacked him lightly over the head.

"Fine, nitpick, but you have power he could never guess, and so he is completely screwed, after all, what is one psychopath against the wizarding world's God!"

"Ugggghhh," Merlin groaned and leaned back heavily into the chair, whacking Arthur's arm as he smirked.

Arthur continued on anyway, "You know, looking back, I have heard some most interesting insults, why I swear one time I heard someone use the term 'by Merlin's saggy left-"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"Merlin's face heated up, and Arthur collapsed with laughter.

"This isn't fair," Merlin moaned, but a small smiled flitted over his lips.

Arthur continued to smile, his eyes tracing over the room again, and then a laugh burst out of him.

"Merlin, look!" Arthur pointed to the space next to the door that led downstairs to the training area, where yet two more doors had appeared, one to the left and one to the right. Arthur got to his feet, and brought Merlin with him.

They opened the door to the left first, to find a hallway that was much larger than the tower should have been able to make.

When Arthur said this out loud Merlin gave him an amused look and quietly coughed out what might have been the phrase, "Magic, clotpole."

Arthur ignored him and looked at the doors that were beginning to appear in the hallway, then laughed as named were inscribed on them.

"Cedric, Seamus, Krum, and Michael?" Arthur read out, and Merlin opened each door to peer at the rooms inside.

"Lancelot, Gwaine, Percival, and Leon, apparently..." Merlin murmured shaking his head, "Does this mean Krum is a Hogwart's student now? And who the hell is Michael?"

Arthur looked between the rooms as well, "No, I don't believe so, maybe just his room is here? And there are a lot of Michaels..."

Merlin eyes narrowed, but then he smirked, "Nope, only one fits, Michael Corner, that Ravenclaw."

"Why him?"

"Have you seen his hair?" Merlin questioned with a large grin stretched across his face, startling a laugh out of Arthur.

"...You may be right."

Merlin looked around again, "No Elyan, though..."

Arthur nodded, and with that they moved to the other door, which had one sole door in the short hallway.

"Angelina, huh?" Merlin grinned, and inched open the door a bit, and gave a laugh, "I found Gwen!"

Arthur shook his head at Merlin's enthusiasm, but before he could comment, they both jumped as a loud yell broke through the quiet of the common room.

"MERLIN! ARE YOU HIDING! GET OUT HERE, SHORTIE!"

Merlin's face flushed and he stomped back to the main room, "I AM NOT SHORT GWAINE!"

Arthur walked around him as he started casting color changing curses on Seamus, and instead walked over to the other two who were hovering around Lancelot.

"I thought I sent you to find Gwaine, and you come back with an army," he joked, but then smiled at Krum and Gwen, "Welcome back, all of you."

Gwen grinned, and gave him a quick hug, "This may be one of the weirdest things ever, but you and Merlin were involved, so I mean..." she trailed off with a flush, and Lancelot snorted down a laugh.

Krum moved forward as Gwen went to help Gwaine and Merlin, who were tumbling across the floor, moved to boyhood scuffles and jinxes.

"Good to see you again, Sire," Percival gave him a small nod, and the grin that was stretched over Arthur's face grew even more.

"Lancelot did drag you in the first time as well, didn't he?" Arthur asked, and Percival just nodded again.

Arthur face suddenly flashed, "Leon is here as well, Merlin thinks he is Michael Corner."

Percival looked confused, but Lancelot shook his head solemnly in agreement, "It is the hair."

Lancelot then turned Percival with a wide smile on his face, "Feel like dropping out of the competition yet?"

Percival's face went from confused to downright annoyed, "...we are supposed to try to win. Against Merlin," He sighed out through his nose, and shook his head, " Do you think we should all just race to second place?"

"Probably yeah, was he the one that told you the first task too?"

Arthur looked back at them from where he had been watching Gwen scold Gwaine and Merlin with a twinkle of tears in her eyes, "Wait, what?"

Percival nodded, "He showed up, said there would be dragons to fight, and then left."

Lancelot laughed, and Arthur groaned, "Yes, exactly! I was honestly more worried about..." Lancelot's eyes widened with worry, "the pins...and the houses.."

Arthur flinched and turned back to Merlin, who was relaxing back in a chair, "It was just like when Camelot first found out he was a warlock."

"But this time he didn't have us around," Lancelot petered off, and then followed as Arthur moved forward to sit with the other three.

"Heya Perce!" Merlin grinned, but it froze with the look on Lancelot and Arthur's faces, "Whatever it was, it wasn't my fault!"

"That might just be the problem, idiot!" Arthur spoke, and then his eyes moved over to Gwaine, "What happened last night?"

Merlin's face blanched, and he quickly looked away.

Gwaine's face was much more useful,as it was filled with loathing, the kind of expression that usually only occurred when a certain witch was brought up.

Gwen's expression turned sour as well, and Arthur could swear he could feel her magic sparking up, "I wasn't there, when it happened, but from what I heard..." Her face turned grim, "That idiotic fake friend of Harry's got drunk, and then told him straight to his face that..." She trailed off, and moved over to Merlin, leaning against his side as he tried to become invisible without his cloak.

"He said he was a monster," Gwaine finished for her, and all of the others flinched.

Because that had always been a problem, even after magic was accepted in Camelot.

Merlin was just, amazing, with his powers, and his nature, and his titled as Emrys and Dragonlord.

It made a lot of people jealous.

Which made them nasty.

"I'm going to kill him, " Arthur spoke and was already halfway out of his seat before Gwaine drawled out, "Good luck, security in the hospital wing is hard to break!"

Arthur turned around to speak, but quickly found himself instead moving to Merlin's other side as Lancelot enquired with a strained voice, "Hospital wing?"

Gwaine huffed, more of a growl then a laugh, "You honestly thought I would let him get away with that!"

A vicious grin slid over his face, but Merlin spoke for the first time, "Gwaine... you didn't..."

"He did, and good for him," Arthur spoke, and then nodded once to himself before addressing the room, "Knights, and Lady," he gave a good natured grin to Gwen, who smiled in response as well, "It seems we have been remiss in one of our duties."

Merlin's face blanched, "Oh, oh no, not this again, this didn't work last time either! It just made everyone terrified!"

Gwaine laughed, and even Percival chuckled a little, "A come on Merlin, we know so much more this time! Operation: Deal with stupid people who are being assholes to Merlin!

"That wasn't the original name," Gwen pointed out, while Merlin just groaned into his hands, "Wasn't it just Operation: Emrys? Or something?"

"No, no that one was to try to get him to do magic while drunk," Gwaine grinned back, and this time Arthur groaned.

"Ah, yes," Gwen hid a grin, "Well then, I agree with Dr-Arthur...wow that is weird..." She looked over to him, but he shrugged in response.

"Nah, makes perfect sense to me!" Gwaine grinned, quickly turning to Merlin, "Guess what Shortie! You are stuck with us, all the time, until everyone pisses off!"

"Ah!" Percival's quite noise of triumph broke through, "I remember the name, Wasn't it, Operation: Defend Merlin's honor?"

Arthur was quietly breaking down in his seat, laughing so hard that he was almost crying. Soon the rest joined in as well, and Merlin hid his tomato red face in his hands as his friends laughed hysterically.

"Thank you so much for reminding me of that, " He drawled, but pouted as Gwen just patted his head.

Arthur stifled his laughter, and got a semi serious look on his face, " Gwaine, you are on class duty, as you have the most classes together,Lancelot, you keep doing what you have been doing, your house is almost back to normal."

Lancelot nodded, and Arthur continued, "Gwen, you and Gwaine are also going to be having trouble with the Gryffindors, can you two handle it?"

"Of course!" Gwen grinned, "I will have you know I am going to be quidditch captain once this is all over, and in Gryffindor that means I have the most clout."

Arthur nodded again, "Alright, if Merlin is correct and Leon is Michael Corner, then we have an in with Ravenclaw as well, and I believe myself and Professor Snape can take care of the Slytherins."

"Snape?" Gwaine questioned, and Merlin nodded, "He knows about me and Arthur, Draco Malfoy couldn't really have just left from Slytherin house you know?

"We made him swear, he won't tell," Arthur finished for him.

"Durmstrang will follow me," Percival spoke up and then closed his eyes a little, "But I vill haff to remember my accent."

Merlin snorted a little but looked up innocently as Arthur glared at him.

"Actually, speaking of houses and stuff, technically, you are all now part of-" Merlin began.

"Don't you dare say it!" Arthur whirled to face him.

"-Pratdragon, you already have rooms, and all of your stuff is here, and I do mean all of it!" Merlin ended with a grin, and Arthur sighed again.

"Does that mean we get those cool looking robes?" Gwaine grinned, and pelted off in the direction Merlin was pointing, before Lance could follow him though, Merlin motioned him over.

"Merlin?"

"I think you should remain in Hufflepuff, for now."

"Hmm?" Lancelot looked confused for a moment, but then it quickly washed away, "Ah, the tournament."

Merlin nodded, and Arthur quickly understood what was going on as well, "He is right, it wouldn't go over well for you to suddenly switch houses in the middle of the tournament."

"You are still part of this house! Just unofficially until the tournament is over!" Merlin grinned, "Same for Krum, but his is a bit more serious... and he is a professional quidditch player, too!"

Suddenly Gwen poked her head back into the main room, "Oh! I should probably owl my brother as well!"

Merlin looked up at her blankly, "Brother?"

"Yeah, Alexander, he graduated before you even came, he is off exploring the world right now!" She grinned, "Or maybe I should just wait until he owls me...that might work better."

Merlin grinned again as Gwen disappeared back into her hall, "Huh, didn't know Angelina had an older brother..."

Merlin then got up and stretched, "Let's go get Leon, _sire, _I have a feeling that he is going to have some trouble."

~~.~~

As soon as they left, Gwen popped her head out of the dorms again, "Does Merlin know why Isolde's room just appeared?"

~~.~~

"You there!" A voice called out as Michael Corner stared down at the lake.

He had had some strange dreams last night, and so had slept in far later than he should have, and when he finally had gotten down to lunch, it was to the strange rumors that two Gryffindors, the Hufflepuff champion, and the Durmstrang one had all disappeared together.

He had then started thinking about the people who were spoken of, and decided to go to the lake to clear his head, because it was impossible right?

Oh wait, Merlin was probably involved-

"You there with the hair!" A voice jolted him out of his indignant mood, and he started as he saw Beauxbatons' Champion approach him.

"Yes? Can I help you?" He questioned, and in that moment, she just started to laugh.

"Oh, eet must be true, you are Sir Leon, no?" She smiled up at him, and his eyes widened.

"What? You...he stopped and stared at her for a moment, and tried to place her, "I'm sorry...I don't..."

"I was Isolde, eet is not a surprise you do not remember, but do you know vhere the others are?"

"Tristan and Isolde!" Leon barked,and then shook his head in disbelief, "So it wasn't a dream?"

"If so, eet vas strange, is eet true that Merlin had magic?"

"Ah, yes...we found out some time later...I didn't expect this though..." Leon shrugged, and then with a smile put his hand out, "If you would like, I could escort you to the castle to see if we can find him?"

Isolde looked at him with a smirk and a raised eyebrow, and then flounced off towards the castle, motioning for him to follow her.

"or we could do that..."

~~.~~

"Look, he is coming up from the lake with Fleur," Merlin pointed at the footsteps that were moving towards the castle.

When Arthur had first seen the map, he was confused at why Merlin was carrying around some piece of parchment, but soon after became extremely annoyed at the idea of what such a piece of magic could do when Merlin had his hands on it.

The pranks would be terrifying.

Granted, he could see how useful it was, but for Merlin of all people to have it...

He digressed, "Fleur...Fleur... could she possibly be someone as well?"

Merlin shrugged, "She didn't have a room, did she? Or maybe it only reacts if they are on Hogwarts grounds?"

Arthur thought for a few more minutes as they approached Michael and Fleur, "It wouldn't be stereotypical to say that Fleur is Isolde, would it?"

Merlin looked up, "Hmm?"

"Well, Tristan and Isolde became a legend as well, you know," Arthur continued, " And Isolde was known as one of the most beautiful women to ever exist, so it might make some sense that she is now a veela? Part Veela, I believe."

Merlin looked up in shock, "How do you know this stuff?"

Arthur gave a thin smile, "I was taught it, most of my childhood was spent studying magical history and myths, and politics, or course."

"This...is still sort of weird, you know more about magic than I do!" Merlin laughed, but Arthur shook his head, "I highly doubt that, you are still Merlin after all, and anyway, you have more knowledge of the muggle - well that is a strange sentiment - world."

Merlin fidgeted, "...probably not..I didn't really get out much, I mean, maybe basic schooling, but besides that.."

Merlin looked away as Arthur glared at him, "Merlin...when we get back to the hall, I think you have a looooong explanation that is overdue."

Merlin swallowed heavily, but continued onward, plastering a fake smile on his face as they finally ran into Michael and Fleur.

Michael took one look at them, and shook his head, stepping forward, "I would say I was surprised to see you two together, but honestly this may be the happiest sight I have ever seen. Merlin, Sire."

"Damn, he was right, it was the hair!" Arthur grumbled, but moved forward to clasp Leon on the arm, "Welcome back, Leon, it is good to see you well, and you, Isolde?"

Fleur laughed, "Ah, you got eet, and hello to you too, Emrys."

Merlin flinched and his eyes opened before he laughed, "Ah, of course, veela, you can feel it can't you? Is that why you kept acting so strange?"

Isolde nodded, "Eet is, we could all feel you weren't just a wizard, and so most of my school is very eenterested in you," she wiggled her eyebrows, and gave a laugh as Merlin blushed bright red.

Arthur grumbled, and spoke, "Krum lost his accent once he remembered, why does yours still exist?"

Isolde laughed heartily, "Because it is pretty, why not use it?"

Merlin shook his head, and Leon had looked up excitedly, "So everyone else is?"

Arthur nodded, and gestured for the two to walk along with him and Merlin, "Cedric Diggory is Lancelot, Krum is Percival, Angelina Johnson, a Gryffindor quidditch player, is Guinevere, Seamus Finnegan, another Gryffindor, is Gwaine, Gwen has an older brother, who is most likely Elyan, I'm Draco Malfoy," He nodded towards Isolde, "and I'm Arthur, obviously, and the Boy-who-lived is now the boy-who-lived-again-bow-down-before-me-because-I am-actually-your-god."

Merlin growled.

"So you haven't found Tristan?" Isolde looked up and Merlin shook his head, "Not yet, it seems they have to be on Hogwart's grounds for us to find them."

Isolde smiled, "Ah well, I know I vill find him this time as well."

Leon smiled and then gaped as they entered the common room, to be immediately accosted by Gwen.

"Oh good, you found her! Right when you left her room appeared! And Leon, it is so good to see you again!" Gwen then grabbed Isolde's hand and dragged her off to the girl's hall.

"Leon, my friend, my buddy, my entertainment, come here!" Gwaine pounced as well, and was met with a fist to the gut.

"...Gwaine," Leon sighed, but then smiled as Percival and Lancelot approached him as well, they clapped each other on the backs, and then those three dragged Leon away as well.

Merlin froze when he suddenly found himself in the empty main room, and looked up cautiously at Arthur.

Arthur then grabbed his shirt and dragged him up the stairs. They didn't go into Merlin's room, but Arthur's. Arthur pushed him down into one of the chairs by the fire, and then sat in the opposite one.

"Talk."

* * *

UPDATED LIST

Arthur - Draco Malfoy  
Merlin - Harry Potter  
Isolde - Fleur Delacour  
Percival - Victor Krum  
Lancelot - Cedric Diggory  
Gwaine - Seamus Finnegan  
Guinevere - Angelina Johnson  
Leon - Michael Corner (Dude, look him up, his HAIR)

Thank you so much for reading!

I hope you have enjoyed the story thus far!

~Not Necessarily in Between


	9. Chapter 8

Next chapter up! Woo~  
If you don't know, I try to post Scry, and another fic called Equivalence on the same day, so if my posts go off schedule, it is usually because one of the two is being weird. So sorry about not having actual days I post!

Please enjoy~

* * *

"But you are always telling me to be quiet!" Merlin grinned, and held it on his face even while Arthur was glaring at him.

He was going to have to try harder than that.

"Merlin," Arthur spoke quietly.

"What? You want me to talk, fine, can you believe that Moody was using the unfor-" Merlin started but Arthur held up a hand.

"Merlin, the more you resist talking about your life, the more we are all going to push, so talk. Now." Arthur steadily stared at him, causing Merlin's shoulders to scrunch.

"I just grew up with a muggle family, Arthur, there really isn't much to talk about..."

Arthur leaned back in his seat, and then without warning pounced forward, and lifted up Merlin's shirt.

"OI" Merlin grabbed the edges of the cloth and pulled them back down, "What are you doing, you prat?" He flushed as Arthur stared at him with wide eyes.

"As Draco, I really didn't notice much, I mean, you were the golden boy, your life must be perfect, but I am not him anymore," Arthur continued, "Every year, you would come back thinner and thinner. You barely ate anything at the feasts, and I know I saw you flinching sometimes when people got close to you. You never approached anyone in any way that was physical, hugs, shaking hands, any of that. I've seen pictures of your parents in this life, _Mer_lin, and I've seen how tall they are. You are by far the shortest person in our year. Do you know what that makes me realize?"

Merlin was frozen in his seat, and didn't respond. Arthur continued on anyway.

"That makes me realize that you have most likely been _abused_," he spat out the word, "by whatever family you were placed with."

He then stood up, and moved to sit on his haunches next to Merlin's chair, "And that is. Not. Alright."

Merlin's hands shook, his mouth opening and closing, and Arthur put his hand on top of them.

"Merlin, tell me. Please," Arthur spoke one last time, and Merlin slumped.

He stayed quiet for a time, trying to figure if he could get out of this situation, but even as he thought of it, the hand over his tightened.

Well then.

"If...if I had just stayed Harry Potter, I don't think I would have even noticed," Merlin spoke quietly.

He struggled to find the words, but floundered on.

"I-they don't like magic... no that's a lie... they hated magic, and anything to do with it," Merlin couldn't look up into Arthur's face.

"They were stuck with me after my parents died, and thought they would be able to...beat the magic out of me."

Arthur's body stilled completely, but Merlin continued on, unable to hold it all in.

"They said...that my mother was a whore, and my father a druggie, who died in a car crash because they were drunk, and that I was no better than they were. Anytime something _strange _happened, they...made sure I knew it was wrong," Merlin drew in a breath, and took a brief look up at Arthur's face, which was shadowed. He continued, "My room...was the cupboard under the stairs, even said it on my Hogwart's letter," he let out a bitter laugh, causing Arthur to jerk a little, "Should have seen their reaction, it was great."

"I couldn't do better then my cousin in school...and I never was allowed outside unless I was doing chores. They told all the neighbors that I was insane, and a criminal, so everyone stayed away from me. I couldn't eat unless I did all of the chores around the house, and even then..." he trailed off, but the rush of words didn't stop.

Something wet landed on Arthur's hand.

"I honestly wouldn't have noticed, if I hadn't become me, you know? Because Harry thought that was normal. He lived his entire life like that. And then one day I woke up. And it was disgusting. How, how could they do that to anyone? how could they be so cruel, so...inhuman!"

More drops were landing on Arthur's hand, and suddenly Merlin realized he was crying, "And then, Harry got told that he was a wizard, and maybe, for once, he had a chance at a life that didn't suck, except then it did even more, because people either loved him or hated him for something he _didn't even remember _and they kept pushing him to show how he defeated Voldemort, or set him up to fight the _bastard_." Merlin growled, low in his throat at this, "And then, every year, when I would ask to not go back to the Dursley's, Dumbledore would always say it 'kept me safe' that it was 'for the greater good'" Merlin's anger became palpable, objects began to rattle, "And every year I would be sent back there, where I was starved and _locked up _and no one ever..." He crumpled forward, and was caught in warm arms.

"No one...why? Why didn't anyone?" He whispered, and the arms around him tightened.

Arthur held him for a while, the only sound in the room the heaving of Merlin's chest. He tightened his grip. It wasn't fair, why did Merlin always get stuck in the worst situations possible.

If there was a person in the world who deserved a good life, it was him, and yet he always got the short end of the stick.

How could he have been so foolish, even Draco should have noticed something! The professors, his fellow students...why were they all so stupid!

Well. It was going to stop.

And once he found those people...

"Never again, Merlin," Arthur held him close, "Never again, you have us now, and you are never going back there. You have your real friends back, and this time, we are going to protect you, understand?"

Merlin gave a shaky nod, and huffed, leaning back to wipe his face. He finally got a good look at Arthur's and saw outrage, disgust, loathing, and maybe even the tiniest bit of fear. But he knew that they weren't directed at him. He had better not let Arthur know where the Dursley's lived.

Merlin laughed, "You prat, stop making me cry, you are just trying to call me a girl's petticoat again, aren't you."

Arthur smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes, "You don't need my help for that, Merlin."

Merlin huffed, but then leaned back in the chair, "You always get what you want, don't you?"

Arthur smiled, and moved back to his own, "Of course, Merlin, I'm the king after all."

They shared a smile, and slowly moved on to other topics like how to make Snape froth at the mouth in the next potions class.

~~.~~

Merlin went to sleep early that night, exhausted by all the commotions that had occurred that day.

Which worked perfectly well for Arthur.

The rest of the knights, and Gwen and Isolde, were gathered around the round table. The spot directly to Arthur's right was left empty.

Arthur stared grimly down at the table, "This isn't the same kind of mission we have been on before, usually I was the target, and Merlin was the one doing the protecting. But we need to keep him safe, understand? I will not allow what has been happening to continue. Not by the teachers, not by the students, and most certainly not by the Ministry."

He leaned back, "We need contacts, and people. We need to work on backgrounds, history, politics, and make it so that no matter _what_ happens, all of us remain safe. We might not be facing the same kind of power, but the politics behind it are much worse. Until it is safe for Merlin to appear, we need to keep his, and all of our identities secure."

"So what, we go back to pretending we don't know each other, cause let me tell you, Princess, that that is probably impossible for you two," Gwaine grinned, and raised an eyebrow.

Arthur huffed, "No, that isn't what I meant, I know that is impossible, especially on how we have all been acting. I am going to expect us to all be called into the Headmaster's office tomorrow, which means you all need to be prepared," His eyes flitted around from face to face.

"Fleur and Krum are probably safe, as they are from different schools, but do the rest of you remember your training with Merlin?"

Everyone nodded, except Lancelot, "I..."

Arthur grimaced, "Sorry, Lancelot. After we learned of Merlin's magic, he helped train us to hide our thoughts from others."

Lancelot let out a sigh, "Oh, good, my dad taught me Occlumency as well, so I should be fine."

Arthur grinned,but sighed as his face became stern again, "The next step is getting Merlin away from his family. If I play it right, I think I can get him to my house, and get my parents on my side of this debate."

Gwen cracked a smile, "They might join Merlin's side of things, especially if their son is Arthur, after all."

The rest of the group gave out a small laugh as well, and then Fleur coughed, "Vell, I must be heading back, or Madame Maxime vill be most displeased, I vill see you tomorrow?" She got multiple nods in response.

Percival stood as well, "Tomorrow," and they left together.

Lancelot stood after they had left, "Draco, I will make sure my house behaves from now on, I'll see you tomorrow."

Gwaine jumped up from his seat, and wandered over to the guy's dorms, "Night, Princess!"

Leon followed him with a sigh, and Gwen grinned and waved as she moved over to the girl's side.

~~.~~

Merlin and Gwaine had enjoyed their transfiguration lesson the next day. Professor McGonagall did not like it as much, especially when Gwaine managed to not only set the cup of water on fire, but caused the entire room to smell like apple pie.

He had almost got that spell perfect.

Merlin grinned, and laughed as Gwaine once again tried to get his hair to lie flat, but Merlin's spell was making sure it would stay pointing straight up for the next hour.

"What in the world have you two done now?" Arthur sighed as he saw them enter the potions classroom.

Every single Gryffindor and Slytherin froze.

Merlin just laughed evilly, getting a lot of wide eyes, and set up his potions equipment next to Arthur. "He kept setting things on fire in Transfiguration, I think even Professor McGonagall was happy to see the payback."

Arthur smiled, and Gwaine huffed, "Yeah, yeah, just you wait until you are target practice, Princess."

Arthur glared, but quickly turned back to his cauldron as Professor Snape entered the room.

It was by far the strangest potions class any of them had ever had.

Snape didn't say a word to Merlin, and most of the conversation in class was Draco Malfoy telling Harry Potter to stop touching ingredients, and focus on stirring, because he was going to pass this class, even if he was paired with an idiot.

Gwaine set his cauldron on fire twice though, so some things remained the same.

The rest of the day, Merlin was followed by awed eyes, and people who seemed too timid to approach him. He could hear whispers sometimes about how the dragon reacted to him, and how amazing it had been.

"So, still hoping I win the competition?" Lancelot walked up to him and Gwaine, and Merlin let out a small laugh, "Hey, if the final bit of this is sword fighting, it'll be either you or P- Krum."

Lancelot laughed as well, but the three of them stopped as they were suddenly called over by Professor Flitwick.

"Yes, Professor?" Lancelot spoke first, and Flitwick smiled.

"You three are going to need to go to the Headmaster's office after dinner, now hurry on to class," Flitwick handed each of them a small piece of parchment, and Merlin sighed in annoyance as soon as the Professor was out of sight.

Lancelot shook his head, "He really is calling us in..."

"Of course he is, you got involved with his pet famous wizard, and he needs to make sure you aren't going to influence me in some untoward way," Merlin groaned, "Why now? He hasn't paid attention this entire time, and suddenly he calls us in."

Gwaine just smiled, "So, who here is excited to see the Princess lay into him? Because I sure am!"

This startled a laugh out of Lancelot and Merlin, "If Harry and Draco join forces in their usual manner, I think he is going to regret calling all of us out."

An evil smile wound across Merlin's face, "This might be fun..."

~~.~~

"So..." Merlin trailed off, "Why did you call us all here, and why are all the Heads of House here?"

Dumbledore smiled, "It has come to our attention that some students haven't been returning to their houses at night, and we thought it would be best to go over what is happening."

"Well that is strange," Arthur drawled, "Because from what I know, Potter has been living in this new house for over a month, and you only now noticed?"

Professor McGonagall flushed, but Dumbledore just smiled, "It was only brought to our attention when a large number of students suddenly left their houses, such as you, Mr. Malfoy. Now you said 'new house' what do you mean?"

Arthur sighed and looked up, which prompted Merlin to reply in his place, "You see, Sir. I was wondering around one day when I accidentally found a portrait I hadn't seen before. I went inside it, and I found another common room. While I wandered around, I went into one of the rooms, and saw that my stuff had already been moved in, and that my robes had changed." He flashed his robes a little, showing the vibrant red lining.

Arthur nodded, "The same happened to me, and to the rest as well. He waved his hand in the other's direction."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, but the smile on his face seemed forced, "So you have all joined this new house?"

Merlin shook his head, "Pratdragon, and no, Cedric is staying in Hufflepuff until after the tournament, it would only be fair," he looked over to Professor Sprout, who gave him a wide smile.

"And who is your head of house," Dumbledore spoke, his tone almost falling flat.

Arthur spoke this time, "No one at the moment, but I expect someone will be found over Christmas break."

Dumbledore smiled again, "Then I am sorry, but you can not be allowed to continue being in that house, without a head of house, and with no knowledge of this House...Pratdragon, you will need to return to your actual houses."

"No."

"Nope."

"Sorry, Professor, but we wont."

Merlin coughed and hid a smile, as his friends got straight to the point, "Actually Professor, you can find in the original Hogwarts Charter, that in case of emergencies, rehousing is allowed, and can be done by Hogwarts itself, so I'm sorry, but Hogwarts thinks we should all be there, and I would agree."

"Harry, my boy-"

"I am not your anything," Merlin straightened in his chair, "I am my own person, and this is not some kind of joke or prank. For whatever reason, Hogwarts believes that we should be in this house. Are you going to go against the school?"

Dumbledore sighed, and turned to the Professors, "Severus, I am surprised you have nothing to say about this matter."

Snape grimaced, "I was previously informed of the situation, and as Mr. Potter said," his face turned even more sour, "If the school chose it, there is very little a teacher can do against it."

"We have been going to our usual classes, and following schedule, so I don't see why there is a problem," Arthur spoke again.

Dumbledore sighed, and stood, "Very well, but I will have to see this house before I can allow this continue. And if this is to be allowed, I will be finding a Head of House."

"You are welcome to try and see the house," Arthur grinned, "If it lets you in, but I believe Hogwarts will be finding a Head of House for us."

Merlin nodded, and then squawked as Fawkes landed on his shoulder, "You want to come as well?"

The bird nodded, and the students and Professor's headed off to the Crystal Cave portrait.

Gwaine stepped through with ease, as did Gwen, but when any of the professor's tried, they were bounced back.

Snape walked forward with a sigh, and placed his hand on the frame.

Merlin muttered under his breath, and Snape's hand passed through the painting.

He raised an eyebrow, but continued to walk forward, Merlin and Arthur following behind him, ignoring the Headmaster's protests.

Fawkes flapped his wings in farewell as he went through.

Snape kneaded his forehead when he looked around the room.

"Mind doing a look through so the Headmaster will leave us alone?" Merlin grinned, and Snape raised an eyebrow, Merlin looked around, and then rushed over the library, "I'll give you a copy of Gaius's works!"

Snape's eyes bugged out, and he quickly strode over, taking the book from Merlin's hands, "Very well."

Merlin grinned, and Arthur shook his head, taking over the look around.

"Upstairs is mine and Merlin's rooms. The two doors to the left and right over there hold the guys and girls dorms. In between is the door to a training room." Arthur drawled, and then shrugged, "That's it."

"We don't even have a dragon in the basement this time!" Merlin joked from where he was perched on his chair, and Snape looked over at him when he suddenly went quiet "...but if we wanted to..." he trailed off, and Arthur responded without even looking at him, "No, Merlin, No dragons this time."

Merlin huffed, and fell backwards into the chair.

Snape just held back a sigh, and spoke to the room at large, "I will be letting the Headmaster know that this set up is...acceptable," the last words came out as if he had swallowed a lemon, and he swept away back through the portrait.

"He is really good with the cloak sweepy thing, wonder if I could get him to teach me," Merlin mused, and then grumped as Arthur threw an ink pot at him.

Merlin heaved himself up, and walked out the portrait as well, Arthur following close behind.

Snape had obviously finished his report, and gone back to the dungeons, but the rest of the Heads of House and the Headmaster milled around.

Dumbledore looked up as they exited, "It seems enough is in order for this to continue, however Mr. Potter, might I ask for some time?"

Arthur smiled and grabbed Merlin's arm, "Sorry Headmaster, unfortunately, this idiot has a lot of work to catch up on with the tournament, so maybe some other time."

Merlin groaned at the look of unadulterated shock that flashed over Dumbledore's face, and then was whisked through the portrait.

"He is so going to come after me now, you know," Merlin grumbled, but Arthur ignored him.

"I'm going downstairs to practice fighting with swords, you are coming too," Arthur spoke, and Merlin followed with an annoyed grumble.

"TRAINING," Arthur yelled out, and soon Gwaine came bounding after them, followed by Leon and Gwen.

After the first hour or so Lancelot, Percival, and Isolde joined in as well.

Merlin sighed and stretched afterwards. He had put up a pretty good effort, all that Quidditch paid off, it seemed.

He then popped up from where he had been slouched, and rushed upstairs.

Arthur just sighed and shook his head, having moved on to training his magic.

They all heard Merlin hop down the stairs, and then stared as he opened the door holding a golden egg in his hand.

"I mean, we are all here, so we might as well, right? I mean, they wouldn't have us go after a golden egg and keep it unless there was a point."

Merlin sat down, and the rest of the champions joined as well.

"Looks like there are hinges on it, see if it opens," Lancelot prompted, and Merlin nodded, first waving his hand over it.

"You never know, right?" He grinned, and opened it, which made most of the people in the room cover their ears.

"Close it, close it!" Gwaine groaned, but Merlin and Fleur sat and listened.

After a short time, Merlin closed the egg again, an annoyed look on his face.

"Mermaids," Fleur spoke, and Merlin nodded, summoning a piece of parchment and quill. He quickly wrote something down, and then laid it out for the rest to see.

_Come seek us where our voices sound,_

_We cannot sing above the ground,_

_And while you're searching ponder this;_

_We've taken what you'll sorely miss,_

_An hour long you'll have to look,_

_And to recover what we took,_

_But past an hour, the prospect's black,_

_Too late, it's gone, it won't come back._

"Well that isn't troublesome," Lancelot sighed, and Percival nodded in agreement.

"So we have to be in the lake. For an hour. In February," Merlin groaned, and Fleur laughed.

"Vell, eet could be worse?" Fleur laughed outright at the look on Merlin's face.

"No, I really don't think so," Merlin grumbled, and banished the egg back to his room.

* * *

Hohoho, Merlin, those are very bad words to say...especially when I am writing this!

So you may have noticed, that I changed this fic to T. When I originally thought of the story, Merlin was going to try to commit suicide. But when I got to that part, it was much too extreme, so I have decided to bump the rating down.

Next up: Yule! And a not-really kidnapping.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

~Not Necessarily in Between


	10. Chapter 9

And I'm back! My muse went insane, so here you go!

I moved the Yule dance up, so that it isn't actually happening on Christmas. Because I can.

* * *

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I NEED TO HAVE A DATE!" Merlin floundered for a moment at Professor McGonagall's unperturbed face.

"If you were paying attention, Mr. Potter, you would have heard that every champion has to have a date for the ball, and will participate in the dances."

She sighed, and tapped her quill on the desk, "However, as your house at the moment does not have a Head of House, I can teach you to dance if it is necessary."

"No!" Merlin jumped up, waving his hands wildly, "No, no, I'm good, dancing, I can do that, no worries."

McGonagall raised an eyebrow at his theatrics, but nodded, "Dancing. Date. The times will be settled in the near future, now move along Mr. Potter."

Merlin nodded, and left the room, and immediately was accosted by a sniggering Arthur.

"Shut up," Merlin growled, and walked away, Arthur trailing behind him.

"Oh, no, this is great, this is fantastic," Arthur laughed loudly, "Poor, poor, Merlin, having to attend a formal function. Oh gods, I remember how atrocious you were at those before. Oh, remember what happened the first time you had to officially had to go to a ball!"

Merlin grumbled, and stomped away towards their common room, Arthur still sniggering.

A loud shout stopped them in their tracks, and Isolde rushed towards them, her eyes gleaming wickedly, "Vhy Harry, I could hear your voice from down the hall!"

Merlin groaned, and Isolde smiled wider, grabbing his arm and tugging him along, "None of that, Merlin," she whispered, "now, ask me to be your date for the dance."

Merlin choked on a breath and Arthur froze.

"What?" Arthur whispered harshly, ignoring the strange looks their group was getting.

"It makes sense, doesn't it! Then Merlin doesn't have to worry about a date, and I don't have to worry about any little boys pining over me, because he knows I'm taken."

Arthur blinked for a couple seconds, before sighing and running a hand through his hair, "That does make more sense, and at least you can make sure he doesn't act like a fool."

Isolde nodded and turned to Merlin,"Vell?"

Merlin sighed, and then took a breathe, "Well then,Fleur, would you like to go to the ball with me?"

"But of course!" Fleur gushed, and everyone who was standing around them heard it, and turned to stare.

She winked at Arthur, who was scowling, and gave Merlin a light peck on the cheek, "Ve should practice the dance as well."

She flounced away.

Merlin kept his face blank until they reached the common room, but then he collapsed onto the floor.

"Oh stop being so dramatic, Merlin," Arthur droned ,and dragged his body over to the rug.

"If I run away, do you think they will be able to catch me?" Merlin spoke into the carpet.

Arthur sighed and plopped down next to Merlin, resting his head on the small of Merlin's back.

"Maybe not, but if you went, then everyone here would follow you, and you know that Gwaine cannot be discreet."

Merlin gave a muffled snort.

A peaceful silence filled the room, and Merlin let the sounds of the fire rustling in the fireplace take over his thoughts.

'"I expect Lancelot to ask Gwen," Arthur spoke, not moving from his spot.

Merlin turned his head over, but he couldn't really see Arthur from the angle he was at.

"Does that bother you?"

He heard Arthur give out a small sigh, "No, not really, I mean...we both know that if he was still alive last time, she would have chosen him, and even after the marriage it was really..."

"You always were just friends after that, huh?" Merlin questioned, and he felt Arthur nod against his back.

There was silence for a longer time this time, but once again Arthur broke through it, "And I mean, this is a fresh start, we don't have to do things the same way we did last time."

Merlin hummed, "Yeah, this time, we can do it right..."

The fire crackled in the hearth, and Merlin spoke quietly, " I wonder...if we can save them this time, Mordred and Morgana..."

Arthur turned so his cheek was resting on Merlin's back, and Merlin felt a hand grip his shoulder, "We can try, but Merlin..."

"I know, I know.." Merlin muttered, but Arthur continued anyway.

"If we can't, then you must get it through that damn head of yours that it _wasn't your fault_."

Merlin stayed silent, and Arthur rolled back over, "Idiot."

"Yeah."

Silence went on for a while longer, and Merlin felt his eyes slowly starting to close.

"Who do you think Percival is going to take with him?" Arthur spoke quietly, not knocking Merlin out of his calm mood.

"... that is a very good question."

"Gwaine will probably go with a bottle of rum," Arthur smiled, and he felt Merlin's back move with silent laughter.

"Or an apple!" Merlin continued, "What about you?"

Arthur shrugged, "I'll just go on my own, no reason to pander about."

Merlin hummed again, and then turned his head to give Arthur a look, "You do know Pansy has been stalking you for like, three days, yes? I thought it was just her normal thing, but now I realize..."

He laughed as Arthur blanched, and closed his eyes. "No. Just no."

"Oh, whatever shall we do," Merlin sighed dramatically, "The scion of House Malfoy is without a date, oh woe, the nobility has fallen."

"Shut UP MERLIN!"

~~.~~

Merlin sighed and stretched, tilting his head back and forth.

He had gone to the library to try to find more on pureblood wizard customs, Arthur had nagged him enough to feel like he should get some of them down before the actual ball.

He had the book he was reading resting on a large pile, when a small voice disturbed his reading.

"Harry?"

Merlin looked up to find Hermione staring down at him, a large book in her hands as well.

"Oh, hello Hermione, how are you?"

Hermione bit her lip, and then nodded to the seat next to him, "Can...can I join you?"

Merlin was become more and more confused by the minute, "...sure?"

She sat down and opened her book, and they both studied in silence for a time.

Madame Pince walked over and gave them both a look, before nodding her head in approval and returning to her desk.

"How...how are you?" Hermione spoke quietly into the tome.

Merlin looked up from his to stare at her, but she wouldn't meet his eyes, "...fine, I guess."

She nodded, and peeked up, then took a breath, "You...I just...we haven't talked in a while..."

Merlin shrugged, and closed his book, "Well...you were busy, with S.P.E.W., and I had...there was stuff going on," he rubbed a hand through his hair.

She nodded, and placed her book on the desk, "And you..joined a new house...after the first task."

Merlin was getting seriously weirded out by Hermione at that moment, "Are you feeling ok? I mean, usually you would be badgering me about how I defeated the dragon, or the House rumors?"

Hermione looked up at him, then down at her book, before blurting out suddenly, "I'm sorry!"

Merlin stared his mouth hanging open, but Hermione continued on, "I'm so sorry, Harry...I just...lost track of things when I was researching, and then I didn't even realize what was going on, and the the first task happened and you walked out there, and I was so worried that you were going to die! And then I was going to talk to you in the common room, but Ron said those awful things, and then you just disappeared, and then you showed up with Malfoy and I was so confused, and you were always sitting with Seamus, and you never came down for meals..."

Hermione trailed off with a blush, and hid her face with her hair.

Merlin stared at her with an amused look, "Hey, Hermione?"

Hermione peeked up over her bangs, her her face full of concern and regret.

Merlin smiled, "How are things going with S.P.E.W. ?"

Hermione looked at him with shock for a few moments, before a smile swept across her face.

"Well...I've been doing research on how long house elves have been forced to work for wizards and..."

The next two hours were spent researching and arguing over a number of topics, and Merlin and Hermione relaxed back in each others company.

"I'm actually really surprised, Harry, " Hermione spoke with a questioning look in her eyes, "I never expected to see you down in the library...I mean..."

Merlin laughed, "You mean that I was always a lazy student who never seemed to do his own homework, and even then, only what was necessary."

Hermione flushed, and nodded.

Merlin shook his head with amusement, "Things changed...drastically."

Hermione looked at him again, "You've really changed, haven't you?"

"Is this where you went off too?" A loud voice stopped it from being necessary for Merlin to answer.

Arthur sat at the other side of the table, giving both of them a strange look.

Merlin grinned, "Yup, actually, you can probably help with this topic, too, we are discussing house elves."

Hermione was frozen in shock, and look from one boy to the other.

Arthur gave Merlin a 'what do you think you are doing look', but Merlin ignored it.

"Harry?" Hermione looked over at Merlin, and Merlin bit down on his lip to hide a grin, and then looked up pleadingly at Malfoy.

"Pleaaaaaase?" Merlin grinned, and Arthur groaned.

"You want to...she has to swear," Arthur sighed and waved a hand as Merlin's face lighted up.

Merlin grinned, and then turned sheepishly towards a staring Hermione, "Ummm...well..ah..."

Arthur groaned and stood up, "If you are going to do this, lets go to the common room."

Merlin nodded, and stood as well, turning towards Hermione, "Come on!"

"Harry Potter, what in the world?!" Hermione followed the two of them out of the library, and to the portrait.

Arthur walked through without a backwards glance, and Hermione stared at the portrait with interest pulling at her every inch.

Merlin bit his lip, "I...I need you to make a wizard's oath, Hermione, that whatever you learn in here you can't tell anyone until I say it is ok."

Hermione looked at him in utter shock, "But...but what if I need to tell a teacher or-"

"Snape knows," Merlin cut her off, and laughed at the utter look of shock on her face, "So you can talk to him I guess."

"Harry, do you really think-"

Merlin cut her off again, speaking quietly, "There is a very good reason this needs to be kept quiet, please, Hermione."

Hermione looked at him for a time, worrying her lip, before sighing, and taking out her wand,

A few words later, and they both passed through the portrait.

Hermione stopped in complete and utter shock.

"But..but that is..."

"The Round Table," Merlin smiled, and then went to sit on one of the chairs.

"Honestly, I'm surprised people don't realize who we are just based off of the emblem on our ties!" Gwaine walked through the room, and smiled, "Well, well, well! Shortie has brought back a girl, 'ello Hermione!"

"Emblem?" Hermione turned to look at him, and froze, "That...that wasn't there before...that is the..."

"Emblem of House Pendragon," Arthur spoke, leaning against the doorway to the training room.

Merlin mused, "Maybe there is a spell like a notice-me-not on it..."

Hermione's eyes were bugging out of her head, "What..but..."

Merlin grinned, and motioned her towards a seat that she shakily took.

"I can't wait to hear this," Gwaine murmured, and Arthur nodded his agreement.

Merlin glared at the two of them, before turning back to Hermione, whose eyes were scanning the bookshelves in awe, "So...ah, in um, all of your studies have you perchance read anything about reincarnation?"

Hermione spoke quickly, "It doesn't exist, there was research done on whether souls would be able to be saved through time, and all that people could find was a major deterioration. It would destroy any previous thoughts and memories, and even the person was reincarnated they wouldn't remember..." She broke off and her eyes widened.

Gwaine laughed, "Well, looks like Merlin broke something again."

Arthur snorted, and Merlin turned to glare at both of them.

"Yes, thank you Gwaine, your insight, as always, is extremely useful!" He growled, and turned back to Hermione.

"Well, then straight to the point I guess, I'm Merlin."

Hermione huffed, and stood, "Harry, I thought you were being serious. If this is some kind of joke-"

_"Upastige draca"_ Merlin spoke with a smile, and Hermione froze as a dragon of fire flew around the room, lighted upon Merlin's shoulder, and then slowly vanished.

"You...you..." Hermione's mouth opened and closed.

Arthur gave a quiet laugh, "You really do like your dragons, don't you, Merlin?"

Merlin smiled, and Hermione finally spoke.

"Dragonlord...that was why the dragon didn't...but the last known Dragonlord was..."

"Merlin," Arthur finished for her, "If you would like, I bet the centaurs could even tell he was Emrys."

Hermione's eyes flashed as she quickly shifted thought, "But...Harry..if you are Merlin then..." She whirled around to stare at Arthur in shock, "No, that can't be right, Arthur was supposedly the greatest king ever!"

Merlin let out a cackle, "Oh, well, he ended up that way, but in the beginning he was just a prat!"

"Thank you, Merlin," Arthur sighed, and then rubbed a hand through his hair.

"Hermione, I owe you a thousand apologies, for how I was before. I know that is wont make up for the things I said or did, but I need you to know that I will _never _act like that again."

Hermione slowly let herself fall back into her seat, "...well...now I'm convinced."

Merlin let out a laugh, and then straightened as Hermione glared at him, "But how is this even possible? Reincarnation can't...and...what happened to Harry then?"

Arthur shook his head, "Honestly, Merlin is so powerful he breaks every kind of rule on magic, I mean, look, he survived the killing curse and all, you must have seen things that he did that just didn't seem possible right?"

Hermione nodded, looking contemplative.

"And as for your second point," Merlin smiled, "You could say that Harry was always Merlin...I just grew up really quick is all."

"Getting into bad situations without even trying," Leon poked his head from around the corner.

"Always sticking his nose into everyone's business," Gwen sat down next to Hermione.

"Some how surviving even though no one expected it," Gwaine added, with a large grin.

"Yes, yes, thank you, you are all too kind," Merlin grumbled, and Hermione stifled a giggle.

Suddenly, a dangerous gleam filled her eyes, and she shot in her seat, "Tell me everything."

Merlin groaned, and rubbed his head, while Arthur hid a laugh.

"What!" Hermione huffed, her face rouging, "When has anyone else had the opportunity to ask MERLIN about the wizarding world!"

"And you can ask Arthur about Camelot, too," Merlin pointed out, and Hermione nearly started hyperventilating.

" 'ello, everyone! Vhat is...oh someone new!" Isolde rushed through the door, followed by a confused looking Percival.

Arthur sighed, "Well then, let's do introductions."

~~.~~

Hermione stayed for a while longer, and Lancelot came in halfway through her interrogation, which set off a whole new round of extremely awkward questions.

She left after dinner, but Merlin had to swear to meet up with her again to have another question and answer session.

Arthur shook his head at the amusement that seemed to veil Merlin completely, it seemed having one of his friends from this life around would be good for him as well.

"Sire?" A quiet voice made him drift out of his thoughts, and he gestured an sheepish looking Lancelot over.

"Yes Lancelot?" Arthur cocked his head, and Lancelot sighed out.

"Well, Sire...I was wondering if I could have your permission-"

"If she says yes, then of course," Arthur grinned at Lancelot's taken aback expression.

Arthur looked at the fire, and then smiled, "It is pretty obvious Lancelot, even last time, that if you had been there, things would have ended up a lot different."

"Sire, I-"

Arthur held up a hand, and Lancelot closed his mouth, "Things are different this time around, and in the end, she and I were just friends. So yes, go, with my blessing, and if you don't I will set Merlin on you."

Lancelot let out a small laugh, and dipped into a bow, "Yes, your highness."

Arthur shook his hand, with an imperious look on his face, and Lancelot laughed as he went to go find Gwen.

As he left the room, though, he turned and gave Arthur a look, "I'm sure it will work out for you as well, Sire."

Arthur flushed and glared at his retreating back.

~~.~~

Merlin laid on the ground of the training room, which had been turned into an impromptu ball room dancing hall.

The holidays had started two days before, and Arthur had had to go home, it seemed he had special permission to go to and from the school for the day. The prat.

Merlin, Isolde, Lancelot, and Gwen, had taken to practicing dancing in the training room to prepare, and then Hermione and Percival joined them as well.

Percival's face when the both of them had come done had caused Merlin to go into hysterics, and then get repeatedly cursed by Hermione.

He let the curses stay for a while, he might have deserved it.

Hermione was having an amazing time learning all about Camelot, and all the insane things they had done. Merlin was positive some of his stories made her completely despair, which was enjoyable to watch.

He mused that he was lucky she was a muggle born, because if she had been born to a wizarding family and found out...

He shivered, and rolled across the floor.

"...ry, Harry, Merlin!" a voice broke him out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see Hermione staring down at him with an amused look.

"Yeeeeeeeeees?" Merlin drawled out the word, and flipped over to see her properly.

She looked at him for a time, and then let out a giggle, "Sometimes I still can't believe that you are actually Merlin..."

"What, didn't expect the almighty warlock to roll on the floor?" Merlin quipped back, and Hermione let out a huff.

"No, not especially, come on, everyone else is getting ready, and apparently as I am the...newest here, it is my duty to try to get you ready."

"We usually make Arthur do it, " Gwaine spoke from nearby where he was lounged against the wall, eating an apple, "but the princess isn't here, so Merlin is slacking off."

Merlin let out an aggrieved sigh, but flinched at Hermione's stare, "You and Gwen are tyrants."

Hermione huffed, and left, with Merlin trailing behind her.

All of them gathered near the front of the common room, and gave each other looks over.

Merlin had found, instead of the robes that Mrs. Weasley had given him, one of his formal court robes that he had used at one stupid celebration or another in Camelot.

They were long dark blue sleeveless robes, with hints of gold trim along the edges. There was a large sash around the middle, that was gold as well, and underneath the robe went a long undershirt of a deep red. The tunic had matching golden trim as well, and if one looked close enough, they could see that it was actually spells woven into the fabric for protection.

It had been a gift from the druids on the second anniversary of magic being allowed back in Camelot.

Isolde was wearing a dress in matching blue, with red flowers that went over her shoulder a accent. Merlin had made a small golden flowered corsage for her to wear as well.

Lancelot had used his normal dress robes, but had accented his outfit with a red overcoat, as had most of the other former knights.

Gwen was wearing a flowing red gown, with a high neck. It had large sleeved that went down to her wrists, and a corset of gold, with trailing beads down the rest of the dress.

Krum was wearing what must have been the formal wear from his school, but it matched so well with the others that there was no need to change it. Hermione was wearing a flowing pink gown, with a layered skirt, and had a small golden necklace with a dragon on it to match with the rest.

"You know...they might think this is some kind of conspiracy..." Merlin muttered, and Gwaine laughed.

"Zey vill think nothing except jealousy, Merlin," Isolde then laid her hand out, and Merlin smiled and extended his own, "My lady."

"They trained you well, Merlin, "Leon grinned, and then hid at the glares he received.

"Well, then, let's go," Lancelot smiled, and they headed down towards the ball room.

Merlin sighed at the response of the crowds that cluttered around the door, people looking for their partners, and they moved quietly through the crowd.

People stared at them as they entered as one, and were then shepherded forward by Professor McGonagall.

Gwen smiled, and then turned to wink at Merlin, "Same as always."

Merlin huffed out a laugh, and then stood straight as the doors opened, and people began to enter the hall.

They greeted people politely, and made small talk as people shuffled into the hall.

Merlin wasn't sure which of them was getting the most odd looks, but he continued to smile throughout the entire process.

Isolde suddenly called his attention to something, and he turned to speak to her. This happened just as Ron Weasley walked into the ballroom, and quickly moved through when he caught the looks on Lancelot's, Gwen's, and Percival's faces.

Hermione hid a knowing smile.

After everyone had gone into the hall, the champions followed in pairs to the head table,where they sat with the judges and other ministry folk. Merlin looked up to see Percy drawing out a chair and looking at him pointedly.

'...fine,' Merlin thought, and he moved to sit next to Percy, drawing out the chair for Isolde before he sat himself.

Percy began speaking to Merlin about his promotion in work, and Merlin nodded at him, and spoke politely.

"I'm surprised to see Mr. Crouch isn't here, " Merlin interrupted Percy's diatribe.

"Percy huffed and shook his head, "I'm afraid to say that Mr. Crouch isn't well, not well at all. Hasn't been right since the world cup." Percy continued on, but soon Merlin was able to look away, and see Isolde giggling at his pain.

He quickly ordered the roast from the menu, and then he and Isolde discussed the difference between their schools as the rest of the people dug into their food as well.

"I must say, that this is truly an interesting bunch of champions," Mr. Bagman spoke loudly, and Merlin chuckled, causing everyone to look at him, "Well sir, it just seems we ended up getting along after all being thrown together."

The champions laughed along, and Lancelot spoke with a grin, "Yeah, it feels like I have known these guys for years."

"I think ve were all meant to meet," Isolde added as well, and the rest of the group regally tried to hold in their giggles.

Soon after they finished the meal, they all moved to the dance floor, and it was some time later that Isolde and Merlin took time to sit down and watch the rest of the students and teachers dance.

"I must say I'm surprised you haven't tripped yet," a voice drawled from behind him, causing Merlin to whirl around.

"Art-Draco! I didn't see you come in!" Merlin huffed, and Draco let out a small laugh.

He settled next to Merlin, and lounged in the chair, looking as if he belonged there.

Merlin shook his head, and gave a small laugh. He was honestly wearing almost the same formal outfit he did in Camelot, only without the chainmail.

"My parents wouldn't let me bring a sword, either," he spoke, and Merlin out right laughed.

"Oh, such a shame," Merlin drawled, and Arthur hit him lightly.

"How much longer is this, anyway?" Merlin asked, and Arthur was the one to laugh this time, "You can leave any time now, Merlin."

Then Arthur stood up, and gently pulled Merlin up with him, "That being said, Fleur, I believe it is time for me to steal your date."

"Ah, so it worked out, did it?" Isolde smiled and nodded standing up to join them.

"What?" Merlin looked from one person to the other.

"I'm kidnapping you," Arthur spoke plainly, and then he led them out of the hall.

"...what?!" Merlin spoke again, his eyes widening.

They exited the hall, and Isolde split off with a wave.

"Honestly Merlin, what did you think I was doing for the past few days?"

Merlin shrugged, "Relaxing?"

Arthur snorted, "Not so much no, do you know how confusing it is to try to explain to your parents that you are the reincarnation of a legendary king, and that you know who the reincarnation of Merlin is?"

"WHAT?"

"Is that the only word you know?" Arthur looked back at him, and smiled, "I didn't tell them who you were, just that I knew, so that is what we are going to do now."

"Arthur...are you sure this is a good idea?" Merlin questioned quietly.

"Yes,my family is...there are a good family, this time. My father might have chosen the completely wrong path, but once he believed I was telling the truth, he decided to help. And mother sided with me immediately. I know, that once they know you, they can protect you as well," Arthur spoke with such determination that Merlin just nodded his head.

"All right, but if Lucius tries to kill me again...I'm blaming you."

"As if I would let him."

They entered the common room, and Arthur grabbed a small bag that was on the table. He opened it and threw some of the powder into the flames.

"Come one, we can go together,"

Merlin and Arthur both stepped into the fire.

"Malfoy Manor," and suddenly they were away.

~~.~~

"You do know, Dumbledore is probably throwing a fit about his golden boy being stolen away, right?"

"And?" Arthur mused as they walked through a long hallway.

"Nothing, that is all, really," Merlin mumbled, and then ran into Arthur's back as he suddenly stopped in front of a door.

"Merlin," Arthur groaned, and he gave him a look, "I'm going in first to try to...smooth things out. "

"And I'll just stay here, ,making no noise, and pretending I don't exist," Merlin mumbled, and then flushed and Arthur's concerned expression.

"What? No! i just want you to wait a bit so I don't give them a heart attack, what the bloody hell was that?"

Merlin flushed even harder and stared at the floor, "Nothing..."

Arthur glared, and let out a small growl, but entered the room with his head held high.

Merlin shook his head, and leaned against the wall, sighing out as he took in the surroundings.

And he had thought Camelot was glamorous, this was...

Posh. Posh might be the word he was looking for.

Or maybe over the top? Artistically over the top?

The door opened, and Merlin looked over to see Arthur looking at him with annoyance, "Come on, they aren't going to attack you on sight."

Merlin laughed,"Well, that's a first!"

Arthur looked up to the sky for patience, and then ushered Merlin into the room.

Merlin got a good look on the two elder Malfoy's faces, before they both went wide eyed.

"Hi," Merlin gave a little wave, and Arthur snorted, escorting him to a couch, and sitting beside him.

"Harry...Potter..." Lucius spoke in utter disbelief.

"Ah, yeah, nice seeing you again...and nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Malfoy," Merlin nodded at her, and she closed her mouth.

"Well this...I didn't expect," She spoke quietly, and Merlin fidgeted.

"Ah well.. I highly doubt this was on the list of reasons I survived that night..." Merlin trailed off and gave a helpless shrug.

Lucius leaned forward in his chair, "Are you...are you truly Merlin?" The note of incredulity in his voice caused Arthur to snicker.

"What, you believe your son is the greatest king who ever lived, and you have trouble because I'm Merlin!" Merlin huffed, disgruntled, and without knowing his eyes flashed gold.

"I..." Lucius trailed off eyes wide, and Arthur smacked Merlin over the head.

"Hey!"

Arthur rolled his eyes, and looked up at his parents, "So I'm guessing you can see why I didn't tell you who it was first."

Narcissa nodded, still staring intently at Merlin, causing him to fidget again.

He looked around the room in the awkward silence, and then breathed out a sigh, "fine, fine, I'll just do it this way."

His eyes flashed gold, and suddenly the windows to the room opened. Leaves blew in on a breeze, and took the form of a young woman, standing with a flowing gown. AFter a few seconds the leaves drifted back outside, and the window gently shut.

"Ta da," Merlin monotoned, and Arthur let out a laugh.

"That was..."

Merlin shrugged at the gobsmacked looks on the two adults faces, and turned to stare at Arthur, "Would you mind telling me why you thought it was necessary to kidnap me from Hogwarts, now?'

Arthur shrugged, and his a smile, "Maybe I just wanted to, Merlin."

Merlin let out a strangled noise, and was surprised to hear a quiet laugh from the other side of the room.

Narcissa was politely covering her mouth, and gave another small chuckle.

"Well, as odd as this is, it seems it is probably real, it is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Emrys."

Merlin flinched and shook his head, "Please, don't...I'm not...just Merlin, or Harry will do, honestly."

"Cissa, you aren't saying that you truly believe that Mr. Potter is Merlin!" Lucius started in shock.

Narcissa gave him a small look, and nodded her head, "I know you have studied the old magics as well, dear, and the eyes are a clear give away."

Lucius kneaded his forehead, and spoke quietly into the room, "He can never find out...if this is true...if he knew who you were..."

"He would destroy everything and everyone who stood in his way to get to me," Merlin finished with a morbid finality, and gave the two adults a crooked smile, "It wouldn't be the first time."

"Well, usually, they were coming after me, and you got in their way," Arthur added, and Merlin shot him a look.

Narcissa's face became pinched, and Merlin could see her mind tumbling over a multitude of thoughts,"Truly though...what would he do if he were to find out? How could he even stand against you?"

Merlin shrugged, "He might just decide not to believe it, if it doesn't fit the way he thinks, he would just think I gained a bunch of power, and that would make him want to come after me even more. Which would be unpleasant."

"Unpleasant," Lucius huffed, eyebrows raised, "The dark lord is after him and he calls it 'unpleasant'"

Merlin shrugged with a half cocked grin, "Well...based on experiences...now that I am me...he is probably on the same level as...Cornelius Sigan, or Nimueh, I mean, they were trouble for me when I first started, but now..."

"Nimueh," Arthur muttered and sneered at the floor, causing Merlin to nudge his shoulder.

A clock nearby chimed that it was well after midnight, and Merlin hid a small yawn behind his hand.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Potter, " Narcissa rose, "We have a bedroom set up near Draco's if you'd like, we can continue this discussion in the morning. She nodded and a house elf appeared, "Gimble, can you show Mr. Potter to his room?"

The house elf nodded enthusiastically, and Merlin stood, "I'm sorry for intruding on you like this, and if you have any questions, I would be pleased to answer them for you. Good night."

Arthur watched as Merlin quietly left the room, reminded a bit of when he was still Arthur's servant.

"I must say," Lucius spoke quietly, "I was hard pressed to believe what you told us...but now."

Arthur nodded, "I understand this must be difficult for you, it is difficult for all of us honestly. We are still the same people, at the core, but...experience changes people, and now many of us have more experience than we ever could have wished...or wanted in some cases."

Arthur smiled lightly, "I'm...actually very glad you are taking this as well as you have, to be honest...I didn't expect it in the least."

Narcissa smiled and leant forward, "You are still our son, be it Draco or Arthur. I can see Draco in you, and I know that you have always been within him."

Arthur let out a laugh, "According to Merlin, I was exactly the same as I was when he first came to Camelot. He called me an ass to my face the first time I met him."

Lucius stared wide eyed, and Narcissa bit back another giggle.

"Well that's...did he not know who you were?" Lucius spoke.

"He had no idea, and even after he found out who I was, he didn't act any different," Arthur mused, and leaned back, "that is probably why I found him so interesting, and insufferable, in the beginning, he didn't care that I was the crown prince, he just cared that I was being a prat."

The room was quiet, as Narcissa hid a smile, and Lucius looked on with a gobsmacked expression.

"I...have something else I would like to ask of you, if possible," Arthur straightened.

"From what I have found out...Merlin's, no, Harry's family has been...the worst choice that could have possibly be chosen to raise a wizarding child."

Lucius sat up at these words, and Narcissa's eyes widened, "What do you mean?"

"You knew Lily and James in school? They were a bit taller than average. Harry Potter is the shortest student in our year."

Lucius' eyes narrowed, and Narcissa gained a contemplative look.

"Well, now that you mention it...he is short...but was Merlin short? That might have had an effect?" Lucius commented.

"No, Merlin was taller then I am, which he lorded over me constantly," Arthur's face was pulled tight.

"Arthur...do you mean to say that the family that Harry Potter was put with was..."

"Abusive, in the most literal sense of the word, I'm honestly surprised he still likes muggles with what I have heard of his past, but that must be Merlin's forgiving disposition breaking through," Arthur glared at the small coffee table in front of him.

"I doubt he has ever had enough to eat, and I know for a fact that he has never actually gotten any vaccinations for common wizarding diseases. He is as skinny as a rail, and I'm quite certain that if a wizard were to do a proper scan, they would find old injuries that would not make sense for a child playing around. I believe the only thing that has been keeping him healthy to this point is his magic, and that might be why it took so long for it to really build up like it has."

"That atrocious!" Lucius shouted, "To do that to a child!"

Narcissa stood suddenly, walking over to the window and grabbing the ledge with shuddering hands. Both of the men looked at each other, and waited for her to speak.

"Tomorrow," Narcissa started, "We should take him to Saint Mungos, they can do scans, and get his medical records up to date. I have a private doctor we can use, and they can start building a case file against the..._people,_" she spat out the word, "he was left with."

Arthur stood and moved over to where his mother was standing, he leaned against the wall, and looked outside as well.

"I would have never noticed, you know," He spoke quietly, "I just...I wouldn't have thought it was possible for a person's family to treat them that way, least of all Harry Potter's...and I have to wonder...what was that old fool thinking leaving him there like that?"

Lucius stood as well, and rested a gentle hand on Narcissa's shoulder, "That is something that I will have no trouble looking into, a few words in the right places, and Dumbledore will not be able to even get near him."

Arthur smiled at both of them, and gave them an embarrassed hug.

"Thank you."

"Off to bed with you," Narcissa smiled, though her eyes were still far away, "It seems we will be busy tomorrow."

~~.~~

"Ah, good morning Mrs. Malfoy," Merlin entered the dining room with a small smile, and Narcissa gave a small laugh at his hair.

He laughed as well, and tried to pat it down, "I've sort of given up at this point, it usually settles down by noon."

"Just like your father's, but he would try to see how much he could keep it sticking up. I believe that one time Sirius spelled it to lie flat for a month, and he nearly had a conniption, and please, call me Narcissa it hardly seems right after all," Narcissa smiled, and Merlin flushed.

He nodded, and sat down at the table, and a small breakfast appeared before him. They both ate in a companionable silence.

After they had both finished Merlin placed his hands on the table, and looked over at her.

"I hope you don't find this too intrusive, but...how are you doing? I mean...finding out your son was the reincarnation of Arthur...and I mean...that must be a bit odd..." he trailed off.

Narcissa placed the folded napkin that had been on her lap onto the table, "It was odd at first, I hardly believed him, Lucius and I thought he had been cursed...but I believe I can see it now...the man that he could have become...if things had been different."

Merlin smiled, "He was honestly the same, since the beginning, I'm surprised I didn't put it together before."

"He says you called him an ass the first time you met," She looked up with a light in her eyes, and Merlin let out a joyous laugh.

"He deserved it, and he even knows he does now, which makes it all the better, actually..." Merlin trailed off, and the gleam in his eye became mischievous, "Would you like to hear some of the trouble that the illustrious King Arthur got into?"

Narcissa laughed openly, "Certainly, though, let's move to one of the lounges, I have a feeling you have many stories to tell."

Arthur walked into the lounge that one of the house elves had pointed out, and was immediately met with the sight of his mother, laughing so hard she nearly had tears streaming down her face, and Merlin smiling victoriously.

"Merlin," Arthur growled, and he look up with such innocence that Arthur immediately knew that he had done something stupid.

"Good morning Arthur!" Merlin chirped, and deigned not to shrink under his glare, " I was just telling Narcissa about some of the things that happened at Camelot.

"Really."

"Yes, like this one time a goblin was set loose and-"

"Merlin," Arthur groaned, his head falling into his hands.

Narcissa stifled down the rest of her laughter, "Well then, Lucius is off at the ministry today, and we have places to be as well."

"Hm?" Merlin looked up with interest, "I'm surprised he is working so close to the holidays.

Arthur had a tight look on his face, and he and his mother shared a glance, "It is extremely important, and just came up. But if things work out correctly, it should be taken care of quickly."

Merlin turned to stare at Arthur with suspicion, "When you use politician speak, it usually means you are trying to hide something."

Arthur shrugged, "It doesn't matter right now, anyway, as mother said, we do have places to be today."

"Really where?" Merlin followed them into the room he had first flu'd into last night.

"...ah...well," Arthur floundered, but Narcissa easily took over, "Arthur told me that you never had any of the common wizarding vaccines, and honestly, the flu this year has been atrocious. We thought it might be a good idea to get you caught up."

Merlin looked at her with wide eyes, "...wizards need vaccines?"

Arthur sighed, and pushed him forward, "Come on you, I'll catch you up when we get there."

~~.~~

"Now you don't need to worry about this getting out, dear, I have scheduled a private doctor that I know, and he will be sure to keep your privacy," Narcissa smiled, and Merlin gave her a nervous look.

She did not tell him, however, of the specific notes that she had left for the man when she owled him, about what to look for, and what needed to be kept for the files later on. No need to worry the god of the wizarding world with such mundanities.

"Potter, Harry," A voice rang out, and Merlin stepped forward.

"We will be in Diagon Alley for a while, if you finish up before noon, you can meet us in front of Gringotts, if not, just use the flu to go to Malfoy Manor," Arthur spoke, and Merlin nodded.

"Yes, yes, I promise not to get lost."

Arthur grinned, "Off with you."

~~.~~

Merlin sat on the raised chair, and kicked his legs back and forth.

Who would have thought it, wizards needed vaccines? Looking back, maybe it did make sense, what with all the interesting diseases that rampaged around.

A man opened the door, his head angled down as he looked at his notes.

"Mr. Potter is it? Hmm, we haven't seen you before have we, it looks like we are going to have to do a general..." the man trailed off, and Merlin looked up at him quizzically.

"You..." the man broke off, and Merlin blinked his eyes in confusion.

"Me?"

The man laid the pad of notes down on the table near the door, and placed a hand on his chest.

"Merlin?"

~~.~~

Narcissa watched as Arthur trudged from store to store, glaring at the windows before sighing and moving onto the next one.

It seems as if he was having quite a bit of trouble finding Merlin a Christmas present, which had been the main reason they had left Merlin at Mungos.

"What do you even get a 1500 year old warlock!" Arthur despaired, and Narcissa walked up next to him.

"What does he like? From before?"

Arthur hummed, "Books, I swear he would drown in them if he had a chance, but he reads them so quickly it would be easier for him just to use a library...he enjoys sweets...but he always overeats them and gets himself sick, so I never got him any of those...dragons as well...but that would be a tad difficult to get."

Narcissa hummed in agreement, "You know, Draco, there is an interesting antique store I know of down one of the side Alley's, it might have something that could interest him."

Arthur thought for a few moments, and then followed her to the store. While he was wandering through the aisles, Narcissa stopped at the front of the store, where a pile of small leather bound books laid.

The sign above them read "Expansion charmed, unlimited pages, spelled for protection!" She carefully looked through the pile, and one near the top left caught her eye.

Less than ten minutes later, Arthur moved up front to meet with her, he had a small box in his hands, and a content smile on his face.

They left the store far before noon had arrived, and so moved off to get a drink. Arthur played with the small box in his pocket, and smiled.

~~.~~

Merlin gulped, and then pretty much stopped breathing.

"W-w-what?"

The man stared at him, his hair tied back in a ponytail on the back of his head. It was starting to grey a bit at the edges, but the man seemed to be no older than fifty.

"Merlin, it couldn't possibly..." The man ran a hand down his head, and then shook it, raising an eyebrow at Merlin's bug eyed look.

"G-Gaius?" Merlin was barely able to whisper out, before he found himself locked in a tight hug.

"Of course it's you, I should have guessed it immediately!" the older man spoke, fond annoyance ringing through his tone.

"Gaius," Merlin spoke again, his arms slowly coming up to hug the man in return.

Merlin let out a contented sigh, and allowed himself to relax into the hug, "I missed you, Gaius."

"I would say I missed you as well, but I had no idea that I was!" Gaius pointed out, and  
Merlin laughed.

He moved back to sit on the chair, and Gaius gave him a look over, his eyes turning fierce.

"...I see," Gaius made for his notes and started writing things down.

Merlin sighed at the look in his mentor's eyes, "I take it that I am not just here for vaccinations, am I."

"No, I would say you are not, Merlin, and now that you are here, it seems we are going to be here for quite some time."

"Great," Merlin voiced with annoyance, but his eyes were fond as Gaius began to go through a large list of spells, noting his results on the pad of parchment.

* * *

and another chapter is out!

I don't know why this one is twice as long as usual, but school is starting soon, so I will probably go back to my shorter chapters.  
Gaius is back! Huzzah!

Please read and review!

~Not Necessarily in Between


	11. Chapter 10

Next chapter up! Thank you for waiting!  
This will be Merthur later on.

* * *

It was nearly noon when Gaius finished, and Merlin was looking down at his lap, rather than the pinched look on Gaius' face.

A hand intruded on his vision, and he looked up.

"Merlin, I have a list here of potions that you are going to need to take, it is...extensive, and they must all be taken exactly in schedule," Gaius handed him a piece of parchment.

Merlin read over the list and flinched. Nutrient potions, bone and muscle growth, bone, tendon and muscle strengthening, organ protection, and immune system boosters. He fidgeted, but calmed as Gaius sat down next to him and placed his arm over his shoulders hugging him close.

"Merlin...what happened to you?" Gaius whispered, tugging the boy closer to him, "... at this point it seems like your magic has been the only thing keeping you alive!"

Merlin quietly told Gaius about his "family" and what he had gone through so far at Hogwarts. Gaius hugged him fiercely as he listened as Merlin struggled through explaining what had happened to him every school year, even going into tales he hadn't told Arthur about yet, the basilisk, Voldemort in first year, and the dementors in third.

Gaius sighed and spoke, "You always get into trouble, don't you." Merlin let out a small chuckle, ad Gaius shook his head fondly.

Merlin allowed himself to relax back in his mentor's hold, relishing the warmth of the contact.

"You want to come with me to have lunch with the Malfoy's?" Merlin questioned, and Gaius looked at him with concern.

"Is it safe to be with the Malfoy family?" Gaius questioned, and Merlin cackled.

"Oh yes, it is safe, safer than Camelot...but I mean, having Arthur around always brings some kind of danger to it," Merlin smirked, and Gaius stared at him with both eyebrows disappearing into his hairline.

"Arthur is? Oh...OH" his eyes were opened wide, and Merlin snickered. Gaius gently whapped him over the head.

"But...is Lucius Uther then?"

Merlin shook his head quickly, "So far, myself, Arthur, the knights, Gwen, Isolde, and you are the only people I have seen, there might be more, but it does not seem that Lucius is Uther...which is nice, I guess..."

Gaius nodded as well, and stood up from the bench, "Well, as long as it is acceptable with the Malfoys, I would love to join you."

Merlin grinned, and hopped up as well, holding the parchment, Gaius gave him a speculative look, and then a smile, "i suppose I should be the one to make your potions for you, after all, who else would know how to tune them to your magic?"

Merlin flushed and shrugged, following Gaius out to the front of Mungo's.

Gaius spoke to the wizard at the front desk for a time, and then they both floo'd to Diagon Alley.

They made their way up the streets, Merlin keeping his head down as to not attract attention.

He spotted the entire Malfoy family standing in front of Gringotts, and saw Lucius was holding a large roll of parchment underneath his arm.

Merlin grinned at Arthur's strange look at Merlin's companion, but it was Narcissa who spoke up, "Healer Gregson, I'm surprised to see you out of Mungos."

Gaius smiled, "No one is more surprised than myself, especially considering who my patient is."

"Ah!" Arthur squeaked out, and then quickly coughed to hide the noise. He turned to Merlin with a 'why do these things always happen to you' look, and Merlin replied with a sheepish grin.

Arthur quickly whispered into his parent's ears, and they both held up their masks admirably at the news that one of the greatest potion masters and healers was standing before them.

"We would love if you could join us lunch, Healer Gregson, in fact, this might be a most fortuitous event," Lucius smiled, and Gaius nodded in response.

Merlin followed as Lucius led them down one of the side alleys to a quaint restaurant. The servers were polite and formal, not even raising a brow to seeing the boy who lived with the Malfoy family.

Gaius and Lucius ended up talking about the new components that were being added to the Angel's Trumpet Draught.

Arthur ended up trying to keep Merlin from telling his mother more stories about their time in Camelot, and soon Gaius joined in as well, but telling stories about all the things Merlin had gotten up to.

They were finishing off the meal with tea, when Lucius placed the pile of parchment in front of Merlin.

Merlin took them in hand, and started flipping through them, freezing a few pages in.

"But...this is..."

Arthur smirked, and even Lucius had a glint in his eyes.

"Emancipation papers," he spoke and gestured to the pile, "Quite easy to get, really, as you are now officially declared and adult by the Minister of Magic, and the Supreme Mugwump." Lucius waved his hand at Dumbledore's title, dismissing it.

Merlin stared in shock at the spread of papers before him, and then looked from Arthur to Lucius in awe. He flushed at the grin on Arthur's face, and began to ruffle through the papers again.

Lucius smirked, "All they need is your signature, and you will no longer be stuck with those...muggles," he spoke the last word with a hint of disdain, and Merlin snickered.

"Can't have Merlin living with muggles, now can we?" Arthur gently pushed into his side, and Merlin smiled.

"This also means that Albus Dumbledore will no longer be your magical guardian, which does bring up a conundrum, but I believe we now have an answer to that," Lucius waved his hand at Gaius, who smiled, "Even if you are emancipated, if you are an orphan, your guardian during the school year would still be the headmaster. This is unless you ask for someone else to hold that position for you."

Merlin quickly looked up at Gaius with puppy dog eyes, and the man snorted with amusement.

"No need for that, just tell me where to sign," Gaius grinned, and Merlin's responding smile lit up his entire face.

They quickly worked through the papers, Lucius helping to point out different parts of the documentation.

"The next step is to get this verified by the Goblins, and check into your holdings," they all rose from the table, and made their way back to Diagon Alley.

Merlin had a slight skip to his step, and Arthur shook his head fondly.

"I wonder..." Merlin broke off, and Arthur raised a brow.

Merlin made a face, "Don't copy Gaius, that is just rude."

Arthur glared, and Merlin beamed, "Anyway! I wonder if the goblins have anything of ours hidden in that bank of theirs!"

Arthur gained a thoughtful, "I doubt it, honestly, I mean, the goblins set up this bank after we had all already...well, I doubt it anyhow. And didn't you have strange storages all over the place?"

Merlin nodded, "Yeah, I already have most of my caches back, but you never know what we might find, seeing as you weren't reincarnated with Excalibur, and I have honestly no idea where it is..."

Arthur's face fell, and he sighed in remembrance of his sword.

"Come on, you, we need to get a look at whatever is left in my vault," Merlin dragged the protesting former King into the bank, while Gaius just sighed at the familiar sight.

Upon entering the bank, every single Goblin froze, and Merlin stared at them as they stood as one, and then bowed to him.

They quickly resumed their work, but a nearby goblin walked forward.

"If you would follow me, Sir, we shall get your accounts in order," the goblin gestured, and Merlin grabbed Arthur's arm as they followed him into a side room. He looked back, and smiled as Gaius and the Malfoys followed as well.

The goblin ran it's nail over the seam in the door, and the wall opened up. Merlin followed behind him with Arthur at his side. They entered and office room, and sat down at conference table.

Merlin looked around with wide eyes at the reliefs that littered the walls. Battles and wars played out, and Merlin stared entranced at the details in the art.

"I am glad to see you enjoy our work, Lord Emrys," a gruff voice spoke, and Merlin turned to see a rather large goblin enter the room.

"I am Lord Ragnok, chief of this branch of Gringotts. It is an honor to have you here," the goblin bowed with a clawed hand over his heart, and Merlin stood to return the gesture.

"I thank you, Lord Ragnok," Merlin took his seat again, and Ragnok nodded.

"It is a surprise, to see that Harry Potter is in fact the Lord Emrys," the goblin brought forth a pile of parchment, "We have just gotten news of your recent emancipation, as such, here are you holdings from the Potter line. We also have a large number of Estates that have been left for one Merlin Emrys, as well as unclaimed bank vaults."

Merlin looked through another large stack of papers, his face slowly blanching.

"I..." his eyes were wide as he stared from the papers, and then up at Ragnok. He looked over at Arthur, and gently slid the papers over to him.

Arthur raised an eyebrow, and then his face froze in shock, "Well...guess you won't have to be working as my manservant this time, you are set for life, maybe even 100 of them..."

Merlin gulped and nodded, taking back the papers. He flipped through them again, and bit back a shocked gasp.

He then started to cackle, and Arthur shifted away with a scared look on his face.

"Merlin?"

Merlin smiled wide, and laid the paper down in front of Arthur.

Arthur stared at it, and then glared at him, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU NOW OWN CAMELOT!"

Merlin laughed even harder, and Arthur glared at him.

"No, no, no, it's fine look, you get half as well!" Merlin pointed to the line in question, and Arthur sighed and leaned back in his chair.

The rest of the meeting was spent going over Merlin's properties and vaults. Arthur shook his head at the blank look that took over Merlin's face about halfway through the talks.

Gaius, Narcissa, and Lucius were invaluable with helping to understand the information, and it was a full hour before they left the bank together.

Merlin stared up at the sun with a blank look on his face, and Arthur poked him in the side, "Come on, you are done now, officially free. Now the old man can't mess with you any further

Merlin smiled, and breathed out a heavy breath, "Finally free, huh?"

He shook his head with relief, "Well, that is something that sounds just as delightful the second time around."

Arthur smiled, and nudged Merlin in the ribs, "Come on, you still haven't seen the library, have you?"

Merlin's entire face brightened, and he pulled Arthur down the alley.

There next stop was Twilfitt and Tattings, by the urgings of Narcissa, where Merlin stood and glared at Arthur, who was laughing at his pain when he was forced to look at fabric after fabric. After an hour their, Merlin was able to drag Arthur to a bookstore, and he came out quite a bit poorer, but with a veritable mountain of books.

~~.~~

Merlin woke with a small smile yule morning, and stretched in the bed. It was one of the most comfortable places he had ever slept, but that made sense based on the fact he was still living in the Malfoy's residence.

Gaius had been coming over every other day or so, and he and Merlin had been looking over living arrangements for the summer. Gaius had a small apartment near Diagon Alley, but Merlin had insisted that they use one of his numerous properties, if he had them, he might as well use them.

They had gone over multiple properties, and had finally chosen one. It was a manor left in a secluded area in Wales, left for Merlin. It was a large manor, with many spacious rooms and large grounds, perfect for any knights, dragons, or unicorns to laze around the land. It was unplottable, and when Merlin and Gaius had gone to it, Merlin almost crowed with delight to feel the ancient magic bubbling up from the property, the wards and spells were centuries old and still holding strong.

It had felt like home at once.

The minute he thought that, he had felt a magical rebound, and tripped to fall flat on his face. Apparently, the "wards" he had had at the Dursleys had finally diminished, and there was absolutely no reason for him to _ever_ go back there.

Merlin rolled up and sat staring out the windows at the light snow that drifted to the ground. He got out of bed, and put on his formal robes that he had gotten previously.

He went down to the family dining room, and greeted Narcissa. Merlin relaxed into the seat with a comfortable smile, and drank the tea that appeared next to his seat.

"Blessed Yule to you, Narcissa," Merlin grinned, and she let out a laugh.

"Blessed Yule to you as well, Merlin," She tipped her tea cup in his direction.

The two sat in the silence of the room for a time, before Arthur walked in, a small smile playing on his lips. The minute he saw Merlin, the smile widened into a vicious grin, and Merlin gulped.

"What did you do?" Merlin groused, and Arthur's smirk widened.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Arthur waved a hand, and took a seat next to Merlin.

Merlin stared at him, before sighing and letting his head rest against the table, "I'm doomed."

Narcissa let out a small giggle, before greeting Lucius as he entered as well.

After they finished their breakfast, they want to one of the solars, and Merlin smiled at seeing the decorations that were tastefully placed around the room. He was also surprised to see the small pile of presents in the room.

"Come now, Merlin, you didn't think we wouldn't have presents did you?" Arthur drawled, and Merlin glared.

"Of course not, now that I think of it how is it possible that one so-" Merlin's insulting phrase was cut off as the fireplace glowed green.

Narcissa and Lucius moved away, which was quite lucky, as all of the knights of Camelot came tumbling out of the fire.

A few seconds later, Hermione, Isolde, and Gwen stepped out as well, quite a bit more graciously than the lump that was spread on the floor.

Merlin laughed, and then yelped as the knights transferred their puppy pile from the floor to him.

"Get off!" Merlin squirmed, and with no help from Arthur, who was laughing uproariously, they finally managed to settle across the room.

After introductions were finished (in which Merlin had been a bit nervous about, but there seemed to be no problem between Hermione and the Malfoys) presents were gifted around the room.

Merlin sighed as he looked at Gwaine's how the knight had gotten ahold of some ale he would never know.

"Now, now, Merlin," the knight grinned, "Don't look at me like that, I made it special just for you!"

Merlin's eye twitched, "Does it taste like apple pie?"

The knight beamed.

Merlin passed out his presents next, and smiled wildly.

He had made a small cache, before he had died, of all of the knights (and ladies) items. Their swords, their favorite paintings, Gwaine's favorite bottle of ale. He had simply taken all of the things he had stored, and put them into shrinking boxes.

For Hermione, he gave her a book on Olde Magic and Creatures, very similar to the one that he had started with.

Isolde was given both her and Tristan's rings, which she grasped tightly in her hand, and gave Merlin a watery smile.

Narcissa was given an ancient tapestry of the Court of Camelot, which, to Merlin's opinion, would look wonderful in the grand foyer.

To Lucius he gave a staff from his collection, what was interesting about that staff, however, was that with a twist of magic a sword came out. Merlin hadn't ever used it, but it reminded him of the man's cane-wand, and so he thought it was fitting.

He didn't hand out his present for Arthur, just smirked, causing the other boy to roll his eyes.

Merlin got a large pile of books from most of the knights,as well as some joke books about himself from Hermione.

He gave her the stink eye in response, to which she giggled.

Lucius had given him a scroll, which when unrolled, showed his entire family line. It was entertaining to see how intermarried all of the noble families were, especially as he was now related to Arthur.

Narcissa handed him a small wrapped package, which when opened he found a leather bound notebook, down in tones of tan, with a stylized golden dragon sleeping on the front.

Narcissa smiled, and nodded to the notebook, "You have so many wonderful stories, it would be such a waste to let them die out again, I know many people would love it if you were able to actually write an account of your time in Camelot."

Merlin stared at her wide eyed before a large smile graced his face, "Thank you, I will look forward to writing about how much of a prat Arthur was!"

Arthur flicked him in the ear, making him yelp, and startling a laugh out of everyone in the room.

The rest of the day was spent enjoying each other's company, and it was well into the evening when only Merlin and the Malfoy family remained.

Merlin was sitting in a small office that was off of his room, when Arthur entered.

Arthur took a seat in one of the comfortable wingback chairs, and relaxed, closing his eyes.

"I'm surprised your family doesn't have any balls to go to," Merlin spoke, but Arthur shrugged.

"Most of the children who would be involved are still at school, because of the Yule Dance, and the only reason our friends could get out is because _somehow _we have a working untrackable floo. There are some balls, but they are mainly for the older generation, so my parents could justify not going. Anyway, it is much more interesting to talk to Merlin then to play the politics game at the moment."

Merlin grinned and sat back in his chair, bringing the book he was reading closer to his face. Without a thought, he carefully levitated a package in front of Arthur, who snorted, and chucked his in return at Merlin's face.

A flash of gold eyes and Merlin stopped the package from it's trip to his nose, and gently set it down in front of him.

"You open your first, I want to see your face," Merlin quipped, and Arthur rolled his eyes. He carefully opened the package, but froze when the last piece of wrapping fell away.

"How?" Arthur carefully took his crown out of the box, staring at it with a look of awe.

Merlin shrugged, "I...might have decided to keep it, you know, just in case, I mean it's not like it would have fit anyone else, as your head is so large..."

Merlin trailed off, and then gestured once more at the box, "There is...ah, something else too..."

Arthur gently placed the crown down on the cushion next to him, and drew out a braided gold bracelet, ornamented with runes of all kinds.

"I am going to get in just as much trouble as last time, because of who I am...so I thought it would be best to have something prepared for you in advance. That has a tracer on it, and multiple wards. It can tell me if you are injured, or in a bad situation...I just..don't want to be late this time."

Merlin stared forlornly out the window, and Arthur let out a quiet sigh. He quickly slipped the bracelet onto his wrist, and then coughed to get Merlin's attention. He gestured to the box in front of his friend, and Merlin carefully picked it up. He opened the box, and quickly pulled out a small gold coin. His confused eyes darted up to Arthur, before looking back down at the object in his hand.

He then burst into laugher, and fell out of the chair onto the floor, "Oh, oh m gosh, how, how does this even exist!"

Arthur grinned down at the warlock rolling on the floor, "You like it? I thought it would fit well..."

Merlin grinned at the coin in his hands, one side with the etching of a bird in flight, and on the other a dragon spreading its wings, "Two sides of the same coin! Ah this is amazing!"

Arthur's smile threatened to break his face, and soon he took upon a snooty disposition, "Of course it is, I got it."

Merlin didn't even rise to the bait, just grinned stupidly down at the object in his palm, "Thank you, Arthur, this is fantastic!"

Arthur smiled, and stood, "Goodnight, idiot."

Merlin beamed, "See you tomorrow, you prat."

* * *

YOOOOO!

The chapter is finally up! This took me forever, ugh.

School has started up, and I am in my last semester. I also started a new job, so I am not sure how often I will be able to update!

Please read and review

~Not Necessarily in Between


	12. Chapter 11

Finally, another chapter is out!

**Merthur**! Plot! Surpises!

* * *

Merlin and Arthur floo'd back to Hogwarts a couple days before break ended, much to the excitement of the rest of the round table.

Gwaine was in fact so excited that he roped Merlin into an afternoon of pranking, setting up lovely gifts for all of the other houses that were coming back. Leon, Lancelot, and Percival were also so bored that they joined in, but the piece de resistance was when Arthur smugly walked back into the common room, and told them that when the slytherin house came back, they would be stuck singing everything as limericks if they sat in a certain chair in their common room.

Besides the pranking, Merlin had found that Dumbledore had been none too happy to find that Harry had left over Winter Break (not that he could prove it, as Merlin was firmly stating he never left the tower), and had accosted the others multiple times to try to find out where he had gone.

Merlin grinned and stretched in his chair, relaxed for the first time in ages. A smile flitted across his face as he contemplated the break, he was finally free of the Dursleys! And Arthur had less to worry about in the whole "let's become death eaters" side of things.

A loud sound broke the quiet of downstairs, and Merlin, curiosity peaked, went over to his door, and nudged his head out.

And then stuttered as a roll of parchment struck him over the head.

"In all my years, Merlin, I still don't know how you manage to drag me into your messes!" Gaius grumbled, and Merlin stared at him blankly.

"Gaius? What are you doing here?" Merlin spoke.

Gaius sighed brow pinched, "I got a letter, just after Yule, asking me if I was interested in being the Head of House for House Pratdragon," Gaius's eyes flashed steel, and Merlin smiled innocently, " and there was suddenly a new job position made that would be started next year, a 'Old Magics Studies class' which I was asked to teach...would you have an explanation?"

Merlin blinked, and then a wide grin spilled over his face, "Oh, Hogwarts chose you to be our head of house! That is perfect!" Then Merlin stilled, and looked up at Gaius with puppy eyes, "You will be our head of house, right?"

"Yeah, Gaius, you are used to dealing with all of us, no one could be better!" Gwaine shouted out from the floor below, and was promptly shushed.

"Do you really think I would come here if I hadn't chosen to stay?" Gaius had a small smirk on his face, and Merlin beamed.

"Yes! Brilliant!"

Gaius heaved a sigh, and then looked up at Merlin, "Now...I believe you have work to do, as well as preparing for the second task?"

Merlin looked at him blankly, and then sighed and went back into his room.

"Ooooooh," Gwaine called again, and then Merlin heard a loud smack as Lancelot hit him.

~~.~~

Merlin was currently staring at Fawkes, who was staring back, head lowered so they were only inches apart.

Merlin squinted menacingly at the bird, and then blinked.

"Awww!" Merlin groaned, and Fawkes rose in his perch and made a delighted trill.

"Best two out of three!" Merlin grumbled, but there staring contest was stopped as Dumbledore finally walked into the room.

"Ah, Harry," Dumbledore smiled, and Merlin let out a low sigh, "It seems we have much to talk about, my boy."

Merlin lounged back in his seat, pretending he was in a council meeting and Arthur had forced him to actually act like he was a responsible adult, "I don't see what we have to talk about, and please don't call me your boy."

Dumbledore just grinned, but Merlin caught a flash of anger in his magic, "Now Harry, I understand that you left during Yule, and you know that is against the school rules."

Merlin shrugged, "Did not, I was in the common room."

Dumbledore's smile widened, and Merlin suddenly felt like he had walked into a trap, "Well, that may be, but as there was no teacher there to check on you, it would be impossible to know if that was the truth or not. That being said, I believe you must understand why it is necessary to open your common room to some of the other faculty members."

Merlin raised an eyebrow, "That would have made sense before, but now we have a Head of House, and he hasn't stated any problems with the situation, and neither has Hogwarts, so I don't see why it needs to be changed."

Dumbledore settled back into his chair, "It is for security and safety, Harry, what if Healer Gregson became sick, or was unable to come in during a time of need."

Merlin shrugged, "I trust Hogwarts, so if something goes wrong, I know that she would do something to help."

Dumbledore sighed, but nodded, "Very well, now, I trust you are prepared for the second task?"

Merlin shrugged and beamed, "Who knows, right? Contestants aren't allowed to talk about it!"

Merlin rose from his seat, "Well, if we are just going to chit chat, I really need to go and finish the potions homework, bye!" Merlin wiggled his fingers at Dumbledore's shocked face, and whistled as he quickly exited the room.

~~.~~

"He seriously hasn't realized you have been emancipated?" Arthur looked at him with a confused expression.

"Doesn't seem like it, and I know the goblins sent him the necessary update as he was my previous...guardian," Merlin mused, and then shrugged, "If that doesn't show the amount of concern he put into Harry Potter, then I don't know what does."

Arthur nodded, and let out a small sigh, "The more I learn about him, the more it annoys me how much power he has, how did he even get into all of those positions? Shouldn't there be checks and balances against this kind of situation?"

Merlin sat thinking for a moment, and then grinned, "You know, if I came out as myself, then I could rule everything!"

Arthur let out a choked noise, and then put his palm to his forehead, "...it would work too, oh gods, it would be terrible."

"Hey!" Merlin acted hurt, but smiled at Arthur's incredulous look.

"Please, even back in Camelot, if you had had the choice, you would have spent your time playing with the unicorns and making illusions for children rather than leading all of the magical beings in Albion," Arthur pointed at Merlin, and Merlin beamed.

"Yeah, ok, but hey, that is what you are for!"

Arthur groaned, "Seems like I'm stuck with you again, aren't I."

Merlin smiled, and relaxed back into his seat, "Well, we make a pretty damn good team, and we have useful positions of power this time. Anyway, you love having me around!"

Arthur froze, and let out a small breath his eyes moving around wildly, and his hands clenched into the fabric on the arm rests.

"Yes. I do," Arthur ground out, and then he relaxed back in his chair, looking straight at Merlin.

"I do, lo-like having you around," Arthur spoke quietly, but Merlin heard every word.

"I..." Merlin sat in his chair, and stared at Arthur, "Arthur? What do you... what?"

Arthur just looked at him with an inscrutable look, and then let out a breath, and nodded to himself, head held high.

He exited the room, and Merlin didn't move from his chair.

"What?"

~~.~~

Merlin was still sat in his chair when Lancelot slowly made his way into the chair until oh so recently Arthur had sat.

"Um, Merlin, are you ok?" Lancelot hedged, and Merlin looked up at Lancelot, his eyes brimming with confusion.

"Arthur...umm..." Merlin started fidgeting in his seat.

"Did he finally ask you?" Lancelot almost lurched forward, "It took him long enough."

"Ask me what?" Merlin stared blankly at Lancelot, who suddenly sighed long and low.

"What happened Merlin?"

Merlin blinked a couple times, "Arthur said he liked having me around."

Lancelot pinched the bridge of his nose, and Merlin could hear mumbled words under his breathe sounding like, "those idiots," and "why me."

Lancelot then nodded to himself, and the next words he spoke caused Merlin to freeze, "You like Arthur, right Merlin?"

Merlin stuttered and spluttered, but Lancelot just smiled that knowing grin.

"No! Well, I mean yes, but as friends, I mean, he is obviously a prat, and maybe sometimes I..."

He trailed off sheepishly at Lancelot's look.

"Ok... maybe I did-do, but it isn't like I can do something about it... I mean, he likes girls, and he never..."

Lancelot shook his head, "Oblivious, the both of you. Alright then, Merlin, you just said that Arthur said he likes to have you around."

Merlin nodded, Lancelot continued, "And has he been with you almost all day every day, almost like back in Camelot, but now you are not his manservant, so there is really no reason for you two to be together, right?"

Merlin's face twitched between disbelief and fear.

"And he hasn't even tried to start up any relationships with anyone, he even," Lancelot, petered off, and fidgeted, before continuing, He even gave Gwen and me his blessing."

Before Merlin could interrupt, Lancelot held up his hand, "Just, just think about it, ok? Don't over think it, but you know Arthur the best out of anyone, so just...just think about it. And ask him about it tomorrow."

Merlin stared at Lancelot, and finally nodded, "O- okay...um..." he blinked a couple of times, before asking quietly, "Do you really think he..."

"Merlin," Lancelot spoke with a tone of affection, "It really can't be more obvious."

~~.~~

Merlin spent most of that night trying to piece together what Lancelot had been talking about, but ended up falling asleep around 3 in the morning, he did have the second task that day, after all.

He made his way down to the common room, earlier than usual, but still well within the time the knights would have gotten up for morning training.

"Hey, Gwaine, have you seen Arthur around?" Merlin fidgeted and looked around the strangely empty common room.

"Nah, mate, I'm surprised too, I thought the princess would be one of the first to try to help you on your big day," Gwaine looked around the room in confusion.

The portrait suddenly burst open, and a harried looking Lancelot entered, "Have you seen Gwen?"

"What?" Merlin shot up from where he had been sitting, "Is Gwen missing too?"

"What? Too?"

"Yeah, Arthur isn't here as well..." Merlin trailed off and his face darkened.

Leon gulped when he felt a large swirl of magic rise up around Merlin.

"Merlin?" Gwaine ventured forward, and Merlin shuddered with the power rushing through him.

_"We've taken what you'll sorely miss," _Merlin spoke quietly, and Lancelot froze.

"Merlin, you don't think that they...oh gods," Lancelot stepped back from Merlin's harsh glare.

_"Too late, it's gone, it won't come back." _Merlin growled, and his entire body was shaking with rage.

"THEY TOOK THEM TO THE LAKE." Gwaine stepped back as every word seemed to make the very tower shake.

"...fuck." Gwaine spoke, and Lancelot stepped forward, "Merlin, Merlin, you need to calm down alright? They are fine, nothing is allowed to happen to them."

Merlin stared at him without recognition, and then reality came crashing down on all of them.

"They put Arthur in a lake."

Leon's eyes opened wide, "and that is just like...oh, no, Merlin!"

Lancelot carefully steered Merlin to a seat, and guided the others away from where he was stewing.

"You guys need to find Percival and Isolde, I have a feeling that this task is not going to work like they thought it would."

~~.~~

A huge crowd of students and public mingled in front of Black Lake, excited to see the entrance of the champions.

Crouch began to speak "Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One . . . two . . . _three_!"

None of the champions moved.

The crowd stood and watched in confusion as they seemed to be frozen in their spots.

Then suddenly, Lancelot,Isolde, and Percival moved back away from the youngest champion, who was striding to the lake,eyes blazing.

"We, as Champions, have decided that this task is distasteful and wrong. Students have been kidnapped, and we have all decided that we will not be competing for places in this event," Lancelot spoke out to the crowd, bolstered by Isolde and Percival.

Merlin ignored everything that was going on around him, the crowd's yelling, the judges trying to placate everyone, none of it was important.

_Because Arthur was in a lake._

Flashes of Avalon twisted through Merlin's mind, causing him to grind his teeth. His magic reacted wildly, and suddenly silence surrounded the area.

Even Lancelot flinched at the pressure of the magic that was exuding from Merlin.

Gwaine and Leon had sidled out of the crowd, and joined the champions, "I thought he was trying to go for subtle here..."

Percival shrugged, and Leon sighed.

The crowd watched in awe as Harry approached the lake, and then stopped at the shoreline, his arms relaxed at his sides.

Merlin slowly raised his right hand, and the entire crowd gasped as he opened his eyes, glowing a vibrant gold in the early morning gloom.

A huge force propelled from his hand, forcing the audience to their knees with its overwhelming power, and they watched in awe as it entered the water.

Merlin was focused far away into the water, and slowly exhaled as the waters began to churn. He breathed in deeply, and then with a flick of his wrist, four forms appeared in a mist of gold that trailed out of the water. They slowly became corporeal, and a flash of white light blinded everyone who was looking out at the scene with awe. Blinking the lights out of there eyes, the crowd saw four people standing in front of him, looking around confusedly.

"Harry?" Arthur began to move forward, a questioning look on his face, but Merlin just glared at the water, which had begun to settle.

A merman appeared at the shore, and he quickly bowed to Merlin, before disappearing back under the now still water.

"Harry?" Arthur spoke again, quiet in the silent hum that was the only remnants of the boisterous crowd of fifteen minutes before.

Merlin let out a shaky sigh, and then strode back towards the castle.

~~.~~

Merlin blinked his eyes slowly, and a shiver rushed down his back as his surroundings slowly came into focus. He was staring out of the window of his room, looking over the grounds that surrounded the castle.

He had done that almost every day after Arthur died.

Merlin exhaled, and then slowly collapsed to the floor, his limbs trembling.

_'What? What just happened?_' Merlin began to shake, and looked around the room.

A large bang sounded against the door, and Merlin scuttled back until his back hit the wall.

"Merlin! Merlin, are you there?" Arthur's frantic voice cut through the woodwork, surprising Merlin into silence.

The door was forced open, and loud footsteps crossed the room, before they suddenly stilled.

Merlin was staring at his hands trembling in his lap, not even looking up when they were slowly grasped into another grip.

"Merlin," Arthur slowly slid next to him, still holding his hands tight, "Merlin I'm ok, Gwen is ok, Hermione and Isolde's little sister are ok too, Merlin?"

Merlin stared at the hand grasping his, and slowly followed the arm back up to the owner's face.

"-thur?" Merlin stared at him, his eyes wide and blank.

Arthur's eyes gained a concerned look, and he removed his hand from Merlin's, causing Merlin to let out a distressed noise, and slung it over his shoulder.

"Come on, Merlin, everyone is ok, well, except apparently the merpeople because you scared them so badly they won't even come to the surface to talk anymore, but we are all ok, it wasn't Avalon..." Arthur used his arm as leverage to pull Merlin up from the wall, and dumped him, gently, into a chair by the fire.

Merlin stared at Arthur as he sat across from him, and then closed his eyes, and slowly let out a breath.

When he opened them again, Arthur was grateful to see the normal sharp mind reflected through them.

"I.." Merlin scruffled a hand through his hair, and then looked wide eyed at Arthur, "I..what? What happened?"

Arthur leaned forward, and tilted his head,making a sweeping gesture with his hand, "What do you remember?"

Merlin frowned into his lap, but began to speak quietly, "I...couldn't find you...they took you to the lake, they put you in the lake and I..."

Merlin growled and clutched at his head, pulling harshly on the messy hair.

Arthur sighed and went to sit on the armrest, grabbing Merlin's hands once again.

"Apparently, you went ballistic, and used your magic in front of the entire crowd, and pulled us out of the lake. Then you shouted at the merpeople about something or another, and then you _left,"_ Arthur grumbled out the last part.

Merlin looked up at him sheepishly, "Sorry...I...I don't remember that...I...umm..."

Arthur sighed, and shook his head fondly. They sat there in the quiet for a moment, and then Arthur slowly asked the one question he needed an answer to.

"Why did you leave?"

Merlin sighed, and his head tilted towards the window, staring out across the forest, " ...after Avalon...I would go down to the lake...and then," he shrugged and gestured to the window, his hand still clasped in Arthur's.

Arthur got a sharp look on his face, but didn't pull away from Merlin, "Idiot, I'm here, we are all here, and I promise you, none of us are leaving this time."

Merlin nodded slowly, and then his mind began to filter back to the events from the previous night. He looked down at the hands clasped in his, and then back up at Arthur, who had a small smile on his face, and Merlin felt an unnamable emotion flow through him.

"Umm..Arthur..about...yesterday, you..." Merlin tried to speak, but the words couldn't get past the lump in his throat. He tightened his fingers around Arthur's and looked up with a pleading look. He looked up and saw Arthur, alive, not dead, not dying, not stuck in a lake away from him forever.

Arthur stared down at Merlin with an indecipherable look, and then shook his head, "Idiot"

Then Arthur leaned down towards Merlin's face, which had tilted up to speak, and kissed him.

~~.~~

Merlin froze at the light, chaste brush of lips and his eyes widened in shock as Arthur pulled back.

Arthur raised an eyebrow, and laughed as Merlin blushed deep red.

"I- Arthur?" Merlin stared at him, and the smirk that slowly stole over Arthur's face.

"Yes, Merlin?" Arthur drawled humor flashing in his eyes.

"What you...uhhh..."

Arthur rolled his eyes, "It was a kiss, Merlin, did you not understand it the first time?" He then leaned forward, and pressed his lips against Merlin's again.

Merlin's mind finally caught up with the rest of him, and he surged forward as well, turning the second chaste kiss into a slow movement together.

They split apart, Merlin's eyes still wide, and his lips visibly tinted red.

"Idiot," Arthur grouched but smiled at Merlin's wide eyed excitement.

Merlin beamed.

~~.~~

Merlin and Arthur remained in Merlin's room for another hour, Merlin trembling next to Arthur's side as his mind finally caught up with what had happened that day.

"So...how am I supposed to hide it now?" Merlin spoke quietly, and Arthur shook his head with amusement.

"I actually don't see how it is a problem, you are Harry Potter, you defeated Voldemort, they should really expect you to be powerful. And it would make sense to have a different kind of magic, or what not, to survive the killing curse," Arthur spoke.

Merlin nodded, but sighed, "I just...you know I hate it when, they way people will look at me."

"Well, it is better for them to respect you and your power then to hate you, so I believe this is a good direction to go in, " Arthur spoke magnanimously.

"Oh, gods, Rita is going to write an atrocious article about it isn't she," Merlin groaned, and startled a laugh out of Arthur.

"The Minister is going to try to talk to you, and Dumbledore is going to go back to stalking you, you might even get a fan club" Arthur beamed with an edge of maliciousness, and Merlin groaned.

"Fans are scary Arthur, so scary," He whined, and Arthur laughed loud and bright.

"Yes, they are, especially, yours, but we can use this, Merlin, we can help you gain some power over your life and your name, and give you a platform to use when you start changing things."

Merlin looked up at Arthur with an incredulous look, and he huffed, "Really, Merlin, I have plans on how to change this idiotic government, but I know you have been looking into introducing a new curriculum at the schools, you are always grumbling at how stupid the understanding of magic is in this day and age."

Merlin grumbled again, but it was quickly cut off at another kiss from Arthur.

Maybe the situation wasn't all that bad.

~~.~~

Merlin was sat in front of a large group of wizards, The Minister of Magic, Dumbledore, Rita Skeeter ( who had in fact put out an article, which had many different ideas on how Merlin had gotten such power, Gwaine's favorite was the one where he was the son of an incubus, and had gained his father's powers) and multiple other governmental figures that he didn't care about. Lucius was there as well, and Merlin grinned sheepishly in his direction.

Seated next to Merlin on his right was Arthur, and to his left was Gaius.

"Before we begin, why are Healer Gregson and Draco Malfoy in attendance, this was a private meeting," Fudge started off with a look, but Gaius took over immediately.

"As long as Harry is in school, I am his magical guardian, and so it is my duty to be hear, Draco is here as a witness to the events that occurred."

Most of the officials nodded, and Merlin grinned at the annoyed look on Dumbledore's face, "Now, Healer Gregson, I think you will find that as I am actually Harry's magical guardian, it is not necessary for you to be here."

Gaius raised his eyebrow of shame at the older man, "As it would be, headmaster, you haven't been Harry's magical guardian since Yule, and I have taken over that position, now may we continue with the interrogation, as I know for a fact my ward still hasn't done half of his classwork for tomorrow."

Merlin flushed, and a couple of the ministry members chuckled.

"Ah, hum, yes, very well, now Mr. Potter, we have a few questions about the Second Task," Fudge began, looking at the parchment in front of him.

"Why did the competitors decide not to compete in this task?"

Merlin shrugged, "We all had our own positions on it. I thought it was stupid and dangerous. I mean, you kidnapped people we cared about to make us compete. Draco told me he had no idea what was going on, and that just seems idiotic. I believe we wanted it to be known that we did not approve of the task in whole."

Arthur nodded, and glared at the people seated at the table in front of them.

"Yes, well then, it must be asked if you decided to join together with-" Fudge broke off when Arthur sighed, and leaned forward in his chair.

"You have already heard that story from all of the other champions, and the fact that Harry had nothing to do with the plan, please stop floundering and ask what you actually called him here with a reporter and fifteen more ministry members than any of the other interviews."

Merlin let out a muffled snort, and Gaius sighed.

Fudge fidgeted in his chair, and nodded, "Mr. Potter, what kind of magic did you use during the second task, It has never been seen before, and we believe that it could be some kind of dark magic, if so, you will be suspended from the competition and placed under an investigation."

Merlin brightened, "Wait, if I say it is dark magic, you will take me out of the competition I didn't want to be a part of in the first place!"

Arthur kicked him, but couldn't hide the grin on his face.

"Mr. Potter," an ugly toad like woman wearing an atrocious color of pink spoke, "Are you saying that you did indeed use dark magic!"

Merlin groaned, and slumped back in his seat, "Of course not, geez, it is just old. You see, over the summer I was wandering around Diagon Alley, and I found a second hand book store. It had a book in it about old magics, and how they differed from magic used today. When I got back to school, I learned about it, and I found out I was really good at it. I just asked the magic to bring the four of them back up to the surface...then I sort of lost my temper and yelled at the merpeople a bit...sorry."

"You found a book on old magics? We are going to have to see it, Harry," Dumbledore spoke, but Gaius intervened.

"Mr. Potter does not have to hand over any evidence, or explain himself unless this is a formal investigation, and if it was one," he glared at the figures at the table, some who squirmed, "He would need to have a lawyer present, as he is underage as well as a person of interest."

Quiet followed that remark, but surprisingly, Lucius broke the silence, "I have spent many years researching old magics, and I believe that it is obvious to see whether it is dark or not. It was said that the more someone's eyes glowed to gold showed the purity of the magic. Harry, if you would be so kind," he gestured around, and Merlin grinned.

"Leoght," Merlin spoke gently, staring directly at the minister, and saw the shock that crossed his face as small lights began to bob around the room.

Arthur sighed, and batted at one that was too close to his head.

Lucius nodded, and sat back, "Pure gold, that is no dark magic minister, just a talent that hasn't been seen since the time of Merlin."

Merlin hid a chuckle, and allowed the lights to fade out.

"It is actually really easy," Merlin grinned, tossing the last orb of light back and forth.

Fudge nodded, unable to contain the small amount of awe that was reflected in his eyes and magic.

He brought himself back together and then nodded gruffly, "Well, at the moment this seems passable, however, I believe in the future it may be necessary to ask you to perform this magic again so it can be classified."

It was a prompt dismissal, and Merlin nodded, standing in his chair.

As he was leaving the room, he heard Gaius speak.

"...ends up in the paper...libel...will take action, Miss Skeeter, good day."

They closed the door behind them, and Arthur and Merlin shared conspiratorial grins, and then flinched as Gaius hit them both over the head.

"Come on you two, we don't need you to get into any more trouble."

~~.~~

Merlin was bouncing around the castle, stuck in an eternal mood of happiness, ignoring all of the stares and awed wide eyed looks.

He swiftly made his way to the large balcony near the window of the entrance hall, and sat at the ledge, stretching his limbs out across the stone bench. He pulled his transfiguration homework out of his bag, and began to write out his next essay, flying through it with ease.

A small noise made him look up, and he smiled as he saw Neville standing on the top step of the stairs, looking back in forth with indecision.

"Neville!" Merlin beamed, and waved, which caused Neville, to make an aborted move forward, and then let out a sigh.

"Something wrong?" Merlin asked, as Neville sat carefully on the other side of the bench.

"Yes..well..no, but..." Neville stuttered out, and then looked at Merlin out of the corner of his eyes.

He took a breath, and stood up straight, "I guessed, I mean, after the dragon, but it couldn't have been more obvious after the lake..." as he spoke the last words, he choked, but continued, " And then...I didn't know how to approach this, if it would be better to ignore it, because you wouldn't want to know...but then if you found out, you would think..." Neville sighed, and then shook his head quickly.

He then turned fully in Merlin's direction, and Merlin froze as his eyes turned gold.

_"Emrys"_

* * *

Oh gods, my muse wanted to die while I was writing this...ugh. Sorry it took so long, but I was stuck at 1000 words for like a month before I could write this chapter again.

So yeah, lots of plot progress this chapter, huzzah~

But yeah, I am finishing up college this semester, so once again I am sorry if these chapters are slower then normal, sigh, trust me,I would rather be writing!

hehehe, cliff hangers, who doesn't love cliffhangers!

~Not Necessarily in Between


	13. Chapter 12

**And another chapter!**

**Pairings: Merthur, Percival/Hermione, Lancelot/Gwen, ~~~/~~~**

**Nothing belongs to me~**

**Please enjoy**

* * *

"Mordred," Merlin spoke, no emotion reflected in his tone.

Neville, nodded his head once, a quick, jerky motion, and then it kept it titled down, his shoulders hunched.

"You are..." Merlin trailed off, his mind completely freezing up.

Mordred continued to stare at the stone floor, not moving, his breath coming out in sharp gasps.

Merlin stared at him, and then forced himself to look at the far wall, his mind full of turbulent emotions.

Mordred had caused Arthur's death, in his last life...he had purposefully joined Morgana, and helped set up the plan to kill Arthur. He had drawn Arthur into an ambush, and made it so Merlin couldn't get there in time. He hadn't been the one to strike Arthur down, but he was still the one that killed him. His bane.

_'I bloody hate prophecies,'_ Merlin moaned, but then tilted his head back to look at Mordred.

After Arthur had been killed, Merlin had hunted Mordred down, determined to seek his own revenge.

But it was too late.

Merlin still remembered, coming across that young warrior, scarred and alone, cowering down with his back against the stone wall of the cave he had settled in, his eyes showing only defeat.

Merlin had stood frozen, then as well, all of his anger disappearing at the lump of humanity before him.

_"Was it worth it?" _The words had filtered out past his lips, and Mordred had flinched as if struck, shoulders tensing.

Merlin had stared at him for a time, but Mordred never raised his eyes. He then let out a long sigh, and turned to exit the cave.

_"Leave, leave Camelot, leave these lands, and don't come back. You will never be welcome here. The magic of these lands will forever be just out of reach. Begone, and don't return."_

Merlin had then left without a backwards glance, and gone back to Camelot.

It was only two months after that meeting that Merlin had found it, the way to cease to exist.

And he had taken it.

Now he sat, once again, next to the greatest betrayer of his time.

"Huh, I guess it makes sense, I always thought it was because you didn't have a correct wand to do magic with, but the curse is still in effect..." Merlin spoke blandly, and Mordred nodded his head.

Merlin stared at him, and let out a long slow breath.

"Neville Longbottom, Mordred, I hereby release your curse, and ask the Old Religion to show you forgiveness."

Mordred froze his eyes wide, and then a choked gasp erupted from his throat. His hands scrambled to his head, and he made a hurt noise.

Merlin felt as the natural magic that swirled around them settled, and sat back as Mordred tried to regain control of his breathing.

"W-why? I don't understand?" Mordred stared at him with wide eyes, hope and fear equally prevalent.

Merlin blinked once, then twice, "You haven't done anything in this life, honestly, I never knew that the curse would continue to affect you, even after death. Neville Longbottom has had...a horrible life, and that some of it was partially my fault means that I owe you."

Mordred looked at him with confusion, 'No! No, you could never owe me, I was the one who destroyed everything, I was the fool who caused...I killed Arthur!" Mordred ended up shouting out the last part, but then paled, and flinched back.

A small, sad smile passed over Merlin's lips, and he scooted over to where Mordred was cowering.

He slowly moved his arms, and grabbed Mordred in a hug, ignoring the flinch he made.

"Yes, you did in the past...but this is a second chance for all of us. I would never deny you this opportunity," Merlin grabbed him closer as a small sob left Mordred's mouth.

Mordred's arms carefully moved to wrap around Merlin, and Merlin held on just as tight as heart wrenching sobs made Mordred's frame shudder.

Mordred cried, shaking, and begging forgiveness, and Merlin muttered reassurances in his ear, sniffling slightly as he tried to ignore the small tears raining down his face.

It was some time later that the two pulled apart, and Merlin quickly wiped his face, and then summoned a handkerchief for Mordred.

"Just. just don't do it again, alright?" Merlin spoke quietly, and Mordred's following nod was so forceful Merlin was a bit afraid hi head might pop off.

"Never, never, I...I will follow you two until the end of days, I so swear," Mordred spoke with conviction, and Merlin gasped at the power of the promise, sealed fully with magic.

The two sat there for a while longer, Merlin's arm still resting along Mordred's shoulder, before he slowly drew back.

He gave Mordred a small smile, and got a feeble one in return, "Now I don't know about you, but I bloody hate homework, and this transfiguration essay is just awful."

Mordred let out a small bark of laughter, hiding some tears from his face, and he reached down to grab his supplies as well.

Another small smile touched Merlin's lips, and he dutifully ignored the question of how he was going to tell Arthur.

It was sometime after they had finished Transfiguration, and moved on to potions, a subject both of them were horrible at, that Merlin brought up the House.

"You do know we have our own House, right?" he questioned from over the paper he was doodling on.

Mordred nodded, his eyes shuttered.

"So, I mean, I'm thinking I should talk to Arthur and them lot first, but I...I want you to be there...it is where you belong. I mean, I understand if you don't want to go, and it is up to you but..." Merlin trailed off, and Mordred shrugged.

"I...I wasn't really expecting...I mean, I didn't think you would give me a second chance, and I highly doubt that Arthur..." Mordred trailed off.

"Let me deal with Arthur, and the others, well, it may take some time for them to trust you again, but I...you don't deserve to be alone anymore."

Mordred bit his lip, and then gave a slow nod.

"Well then, I will talk to the Prat tonight, and then get back to you tomorrow yeah?" Merlin grinned, and Mordred let out a small incredulous sound in response.

"...ok,"

"Now," Merlin jumped off of that awkward topic, and dove back into potions, "What if we wanted to screw up this potion so bad it turned someone into a hippogriff?"

"I don't think that is possible..."

"No no no, look, this one time with Gwaine..."

~~.~~

Merlin stood in front of Arthur's door, his false bravado leaving him at the action of actually telling Arthur.

_'Oh hey Arthur, guess what, I saw your murderer today and told him it would be cool if he joined us! Yeah!"_

Merlin snorted, and shook his head.

"Are you going to tell me what you did this time, or are you going to keep pacing around outside my door," a voice drawled, startling a small 'meep' noise out of Merlin.

Arthur stood, leaning against the doorway, with one eyebrow drawn up, and amused look on his face.

"Erm..." Merlin stuttered out, and then nearly tripped over his feet as Arthur pulled him into his room, and pushed him onto the couch. Arthur settled gracefully beside him, and stared.

Merlin stared back.

Arthur slowly began to raise an eyebrow.

Merlin's eyes began to widen, a look of false innocence filling his face.

Arthur rolled his eyes, and pulled Merlin closer , his hand resting over his shoulder.

"You know, I was wandering down the knight's hall to yell at Gwaine, when I saw the most interesting thing," Arthur began, his hand now travelling up to rest on Merlin's head.

"I mean,I know Gwaine is strange, Arthur, but I wouldn't call him the most interesting-" Merlin began, but stopped at Arthur's look.

"Indeed, well, as it happens I was walking through the hall, when another doorway appeared! And you would never guess whose name was on it..."

Merlin froze, and let out a tired sigh, "So...you will never guess who I saw today."

Arthur shook his head, and drew his fingers through Merlin's hair, "Who is he, Merlin? How dangerous is this situation?"

Merlin almost shook his head wildly, but stopped because he didn't want to loosen Arthur's hold, "Ah, erm, not dangerous at all! Except I mean, if he and I are paired for potions or something...but um, so, Neville Longbottom."

The look of frozen incredulousness on Arthur's face caused Merlin to snicker.

"Neville Longbottom. Is. Mordred." Arthur stared at him with wide disbelieving eyes, "I thought you said that Mordred was good at magic, Neville is..."

Merlin shrugged, "That...was actually my fault, I sort of cursed Mordred, and it carried over so..." Merlin flailed his arms a bit, and then shrugged.

Arthur shook his head, seeming to try to forcefully get his thought straight.

Merlin reached over, and grabbed his other hand, holding it tight, not looking at his face, "I...the thing is, is that this is our second chance, all of our second chance...and I mean, I went after him after you..." Merlin choked over the word, but continued on, " and I found him, and...I think, I think he has suffered more than enough, especially in this life, where it seems like magic was still punishing him even though he wasn't actually him..."

Merlin shrugged, and shifted his grip on Arthur's hand, twining and untwining their fingers.

Silence followed his word vomit, but then Arthur let out a small sigh, "I need to talk to him, before I do anything...and even then, the others..."

Merlin shrugged, "Yeah, we, we both know, but...He deserves a second chance at life."

Arthur tilted Merlin's head forward until it was resting on his shoulder, and small sigh ruffled Merlin's hair, "Fine, but I still need to talk to him first."

Merlin nodded, a small content smile spreading over his face.

~~.~~

The next day started with Merlin's first period as potions, so he spent most of it staring blearily into the cauldron while Snape paced around the classroom like a caged lion.

Since finding out that Harry was Merlin, Snape had laid off on some of the verbal abuse, and instead been insulting all of the other Gryffindors.

Merlin let out a small snort at the expression Snape would have if he found out he had been yelling at Mordred the entire time.

Arthur elbowed him, and Merlin began to read out the next set of instructions.

It was near the end of class, that the headmaster of Durmstrang entered the room, causing all of the students to look up at him with interest.

Karkaroff moved immediately to Snape, who had been sitting at the front of the room. A hushed conversation started, and with a thought, Merlin set up a spell to let him and Arthur hear it.

*"We need to talk," said Karkaroff.

"I'll talk to you after my lesson, Karkaroff," Snape muttered, but Karkaroff interrupted him.

"I want to talk now, while you can't slip off, Severus. You've been avoiding me."

"After the lesson," Snape snapped.*

As soon as the lesson came to an end, Merlin packed up his items, and rushed from the room, hoping to find a safe place to write down whatever conversation was going to happen.

He didn't notice that Arthur hadn't followed him.

~~.~~

Arthur watched as Merlin bolted from the room, and shook his head a little at his antics.

He then went to wait outside the room, and then gestured as a certain person exited the classroom.

"Walk with me," Arthur ordered, and Mordred froze, but soon followed along after Arthur's fast pace.

Mordred followed Arthur without a word, but Arthur could feel the fear and dread raging behind him.

Arthur stopped near a small alcove, and sat down on a bench on one side, while Mordred carefully sat down on the other.

Arthur rested his head on the palm of one hand, his elbow propped up by his knee. He stared at the young man before him, and silently cursed Merlin.

He didn't see a killer in front of him, but another lost teenager, who had made bad decisions,and then paid for them tenfold.

"I don't have Merlin's bleeding heart," were the first words that broke out of his mouth.

Mordred looked up at him, and Arthur stared him straight in the eye.

"I also don't have his capacity for forgiveness, or compassion. You may not have struck the final blow, but you killed me, and in doing so, you not only destroyed Camelot, but you destroyed _Merlin_," the last word came out sharp, and harsh but that was the point.

Arthur leaned back, his eyes still steady on the man before him, "So, you may have killed me back then, but the one who should hold a grudge against you is an idiot, and has begged for you to be given a second chance."

At this phrase Arthur straightened, causing Mordred to sit at attention.

"I have only one question Mordred, and that is, why should I?"

~~.~~

Merlin sat in an abandoned classroom, a quill held in his hand.

*"What's so urgent?" he heard Snape hiss at Karkaroff.

"_This,"_ said Karkaroff.

"Well? Do you see? It's never been this clear, never since —"

"Put it away!" snarled Snape.

"But you must have noticed —" Karkaroff began in an agitated voice.*

"You fool, this is not the place to talk about these kind of things," Snape spoke.

"He is coming back!" Karkaroff snapped.

Snape let out a wordless growl, and then Merlin heard the sound of feet as the exited the room.

He tapped his quill against the table, a huge sense of foreboding filling him.

_He is coming back_

That...that wasn't good at all.

~~.~~

"I..." Mordred began, and a strange expression overcame his face, "I don't think I do, deserve a second chance. I ...I only spoke to Merlin so he would know I was here, because if he found out on his own, you would think I was plotting against you, and I'm _not _he just..." Mordred trailed off.

"After everything I did, I never thought he could ever forgive me, and that he did is so far beyond my expectations, that I would never even hope of more, so I...I don't think I deserve this second chance...but...but if there is a possibility of it, I have already sworn to follow both of you, and I would do anything in my power to keep him safe," Mordred trailed off at Arthur's small snort.

"Some days, I don't think anyone can keep that fool safe, especially from himself," a wistful smile appeared, and disappeared just as quickly.

Arthur looked over the boy in front of him, and thought back to all of the myths he had read as a child. About how the greatest warlock of all time worked with a muggle to try to bring peace. How another magic user was jealous of the power the two had, and killed the muggle, thus bringing about the great war of magic. That the wise Warlock had defeated his nemesis, only to fall to his wounds.

History in truth, was the greatest liar.

He stared at Mordred, and then let out a tired sigh, "You get one chance, one. And we will be watching you," Arthur stood, and then gestured for Mordred to follow him.

Mordred sat frozen on the bench eyes wide, but soon pelted after Arthur to keep up.

~~.~~

Merlin had moved back to the common room, sitting in one of the large armchairs and reading a book.

He expected Arthur to be back at some point.

Probably.

As that thought rushed through his head, he heard the portrait open.

"Welcome back, what have you been doing?"

"Oh, have I been here before, I didn't think I had..." a dreamy voice responded, and Merlin jolted up.

A petite blonde girl was standing just next to the portrait, eyes trailing over the room.

"Uhh, no sorry, I thought you were someone else...who are you?" Merlin blinked at the girl, who then moved to stare at the fireplace.

"Oh, that would make more sense, I was afraid I had gotten lost in the castle again and forgotten where I had been," the girl suddenly looked over to him, her eyes holding an otherworldly quality, "I'm Luna, my Lord Emrys."

"Wha-" Merlin began to speak, but the portrait opened again, and Arthur and Mordred stepped in "Merlin have you- who is that?"

"Luna, what are you doing here?" Mordred was staring at the girl, and she grinned, and danced over to him.

"I told you it would be fine if you talked about it!" She gave Mordred a brief hug, before giving a low curtsy to Arthur.

She then tilted her head, "You know, it looks like you used to have quite a few nargles, but they are all leaving now. Must be nice."

She then promptly moved back to the bookcases,grabbed a small book on the fey, and sat in a chair near where Merlin was still sitting, jaw dropped open.

"Will someone please explain to me what in the world is going on!" Arthur growled, causing Merlin to snort.

"That is Luna Lovegood, she is a third year in Ravenclaw..." Mordred trailed off.

"How in the world did she get into the common room?" Arthur was rubbing a hand over his head.

"Oh, Hogwarts told me, she was very nice about it," Luna spoke out from behind her book.

"Erm, and why did Hogwarts tell you?" Merlin spoke up, and was once again face with the full glory of Luna's stare.

"I'm here to help you, of course! We have been waiting a long time for you to return, mother was ever so excited that the signs were beginning to line up," Luna replied, turning back to her book.

"I...wait...what?" Merlin blinked repeatedly, but the girl offered no more information.

Arthur stared at her, then moved across the room, "Well then, Mordred, this is where your room is..."

_'Traitors!' _Merlin glared at their two retreating backs, and then nodded to himself, and went back to his own book, looking over every few minutes at the girl.

Half an hour later, and Luna stood, placed a magical mark in the book to hold her place, and gave Merlin a wide smile.

"I have class now, may I come back later?"

Merlin blinked up from his book, "Oh, of course, are you, are you going to be staying here?"

The girl hummed, and shifted her weight from one foot to the other, "Perhaps, goodbye, my Lord."

And then she left.

Merlin blinked at the closing portrait.

"That just happened," Merlin sighed to himself, and got back to work.

* * *

**Note, things that have * were taken directly out of The Goblet of Fire**

**So, as many of you guessed, Neville Longbottom is Mordred! Poor baby. And I brought in Luna! Fourth year is coming to a close soon, maybe 2-3 more chapters! Action, so much action is coming up.**

**And the eternal question, does Lancelot get to live! Haha! Who knows! ME, but I am not telling~**

**Please leave a review on your way out!**

**~Not Necessarily in Between**


	14. Chapter 13

Is it, can it be? Yup. New chapter!  
Parings: Merthur, Percival/Hermione. Lancelot/Gwen, ~~~/~~~

* * *

Merlin woke up the next morning with a groan, and grabbed his head. He crawled out of bed, and stumbled down the stairs to the lounge area. He blearily blinked his eyes, and then shuffled over to one of the couches and collapsed.

He snuffled and had half buried himself under the cushions, when the portrait slammed open, and a familiar voice shouted into the room, "Did you see what she wrote!"

Merlin slowly tipped his head over, and looked, up, up, up at Hermione, who seemed as if she couldn't chose between a fuming or amused expression.

"Hmm?" Merlin voiced, and she rolled her eyes, and proffered the newspaper in her hand at him.

"You better read this article, Merlin, this is serious!" she huffed, and Merlin lazily reached a hand out to snag the paper.

He then jolted upright in his seat, and let out a startled curse.

_**The Second Coming of Merlin, or the Second Dark Lord?**_

_**by Rita Skeeter**_

_The Triwizard Tournament this year has been a mess of surprises, but none holds as much interest as what happened during the second task. __Now, for your information, readers, the point of this task was for the champions to explore the Black Lake, and find a person who had been taken and hidden inside. They had an hour to complete this task, but apparently the Champions did not feel up to it.__The Champions as one, banded together to boycott the very task they had been assigned, as they said, and I quote from on Cedric Doggory "_"We, as Champions, have decided that this task is distasteful and wrong. Students have been kidnapped, and we have all decided that we will not be competing for places in this event."

_With these words, the three of age champions stood back, and watched as the youngest champion, one famous Harry Potter walked straight to the water, and that is where the strangeness begins readers, as, without a word, Harry Potter summoned the chosen people to him, and it was no summoning charm, or any other kind of magic I have ever seen! His eyes glowed gold, and with a wave of his hand, the four tributes stood before him. The magic he used had most of the audience on their knees by the sheer pressure, and had one question running through people's minds. _

_What kind of magic was this?_

_Now, I know all you readers now the tragic story of Harry Potter, who has been the only person to survive the Killing Curse, sent at him by You-Know-Who himself, but now are we starting to see the amazing magic that saved him? Or is it something much darker?_

_Let's go back, readers, to the day of Halloween, a tragic day for Mr. Potter, and yet, also a day of interest as he was made the Fourth Champion. What kind of magic could have been used to cause this to occur, the same kind of magic that could summon people to him without even a wand perhaps? Add to this the First Task, where the Champions had to rescue a golden egg from the clutches of a mother dragon. Young Mr. Potter was meant to face the toughest of the lot, the Hungarian Horntail, but instead of fighting it, he simply walked out, and the dragon gave him the egg._

_That's right readers, the dragon simply put the egg in his hands, he didn't even draw his wand!_

_I was able to join a panel set up by the Minister of Magic himself, to see if the kind of magic that Mr. Potter was using during his tasks was acceptable, for if it wasn't he would be disqualified. _

_Now, unfortunately readers, I am unable to speak of what directly happened at that trial, but do not fear, Mr. Potter will be competing in the finale, as it seems his interesting magic use does have some historical base after all. _

_Though this magic has been accepted by the Minister and the school board, I ask you readers, what do you think? This kind of magic hasn't been seen since the dark ages, and the times of Merlin. Is that what we have here, or is it the coming of a second dark lord who has found secrets that we dare not even try to know?_

_Continued on pg 2._

_See the history of one Harry Potter:_

_pg 4_

_See more about the Triwizard tournament:_

_pg 6 The Girl Who Lied_

_pg 8 The Champions_

The front of the article had Merlin standing at the edge of the lake with his hand outstretched, and the magic was visibly swirling around him in chaotic eddies.

"Well, that happened faster than I expected..." Merlin let out a tired sigh, and gave Hermione a small smile.

Hermione pursed her lips, "This could be really bad for you, you know, she had pretty much set it up so people will be watching you 24/7 now."

Merlin shrugged, "I mean, they did that before, and now that it is out I can use my magic as I please instead of trying to hide it."

Merlin then skimmed through the paper some more, and stopped at page 6.

_A boy like no other, perhaps _— _yet a boy suffering all the usual pangs of adolescence, writes Rita Skeeter. Deprived of love since the tragic demise of his parents, fourteen year old Harry Potter thought that he had found solace in his steady girlfriend at Hogwarts, Muggle-born Hermione Granger. Little did he know that he would shortly be suffering yet another emotional blow in a life already littered with personal loss._

_Miss Granger, a plain but ambitious girl, seems to have a taste for famous wizards that Harry alone cannot satisfy. Since the arrival at Hogwarts of Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Seeker and hero of the last Quidditch World Cup, Miss Granger has been toying with both boys' affections. Krum, is openly smitten with the devious Miss Granger, has already invited her to stay with him in Bulgaria over the summer holidays and insists that he has "never felt this way about any other girl."_

_However, it may not be Miss Granger's doubtful natural charms that have captured these unfortunate young boys' interests._

_"She's really ugly," says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth year student, "but she'd be well-up to making a Love Potion, she's quite brainy. I think that's how she's doing it."_

_Love Potions are, of course, banned at Hogwarts, and no doubt Albus Dumbledore will want to investigate these claims. In the meantime, Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart on a worthier candidate._

"Hermione, she wrote about you as well..." Merlin began glaring at the page, but Hermione let out a small huff.

"Yes, well, that hardly matters to me," She tipped her nose up, but Merlin mouth pinched.

"This could get ugly, Hermione, anyone who is a fan of Victor might try to come after you."

Hermione gave him a long look, and then shook her head with a fond smile, "Or you as well, but it is fine, I can handle myself."

Merlin raised an eyebrow, and then a small smile came to his face, "So you and Percival hmm? I mean after the ball I began to wonder..."

Hermione rouged, and glared, "Shut up Merlin!"

"That's my line," a voice spoke from behind her, causing her to jump in her seat. Arthur raised an eyebrow at the two of them, and Merlin coughed and tried to stealthily hide the paper behind his back.

Arthur's eyebrow rose even higher, and he outstretched his arm, Merlin grumbled, then slouched as he handed over the paper.

Arthur began reading the first page, and then moved to sit down next to Merlin, their shoulders brushing.

"Well, I mean, now we can all get away with calling you Merlin without anyone really being any wiser," Arthur mused, tapping his chin.

Merlin shrugged, and then blushed as Arthur pulled him into his side.

Hermione had a small smile quirk over her face, and Merlin glared at her.

"Hermione knows who you are?" Mordred spoke from the doorway from the male rooms to the common area.

Hermione looked up in shock, "Neville? What are you doing here?"

Mordred flinched, and his shoulders fell,"Ah..."

Merlin scooted forward a bit, and coughed, "Um, Hermione, well...Mordred?"

Arthur let out a groan of disgust at Merlin's eloquence, and even Mordred let out a sigh.

Hermione blinked once, twice, and then scrunched her face, "But I thought Mordred was supposed to be very powerful, " she blushed,"No offense Ne-Mordred but..."

Merlin spoke up quickly, "That was my fault, there was a curse, and I didn't know it would carry over," Merlin looked up at Mordred with a small smile, "So, you are definitely going to surprise the teachers now, huh?"

Mordred gave a tense smile, and sat on one the the chairs a little farther away from the group, "Mmm, McGonagall might actually faint."

"or Snape," Merlin let out an evil cackle, and Arthur rolled his eyes, "I doubt this will help his potions grades, as you two have the same problem of exuding so much magic that when you touch the ingredients you change their magic properties."

Hermione's eyes widened, and she whispered to herself, "That makes so much sense!"

Merlin and Mordred both flushed, and stared at the floor, just in time for the rest of the knights, and Gwen, to enter the main room.

"Neville?" Gwen spoke, her head tilted and brow furrowed, "What are you doing here?"

Mordred grimaced, and Leon wandered over.

"Merlin, are you just letting everyone in now? I'm quite sure that Professor McGonagall will not be happy with losing half of the Gryffindors."

Merlin coughed lightly, and looked at Arthur with a pleading face, causing Arthur to let out a long sigh.

"Everyone sit down," he commanded, and they did (though with a mutinous glare on Gwaine's part)

"Now, don't even think of doing anything understood?" He looked at each of them separately, then nodded once to himself, "Neville is Mordred."

Gwaine immediately tensed, and his head swung over so he could glare are the other boy.

"What." He growled out, but stopped at Merlin's pleading look.

"Stop it," Merlin spoke, and the other turned to look at him, "Look, this is a second chance for everyone, and that means Mordred too. He hasn't even done anything in this life, you can't blame him for what happened in the last."

"Yes I can," Arthur muttered mulishly, and Merlin jabbed him with his point elbow.

Gwen looked over at Arthur's bane, and then at Merlin. She clasped her hands together, and gave a slight nod, "I can...try."

Gwaine let out a huff, but didn't speak out. His eyes did narrow at Mordred, and Merlin knew they would be having a "conversation."

Leon grimaced, but gave a firm nod to Merlin and Arthur.

Lancelot had spent the night there as well, and nodded easily, as he hadn't even been alive at the point when everything went wrong.

Percival said nothing, but Merlin thought his silence felt a bit like acquiescence.

Mordred stared at his lap, but then they all started as Hermione jumped up with a shriek, "We are going to be late for class!"

She then hurried out of the portrait, her hair flying in a banner behind her.

Merlin let out a small snort, and the rest collapsed with laughter at the release of tension. He sent Mordred a small smile, and then the rest rushed to get their bags and head to class.

~~.~~

The reaction to Merlin's article had been.. interesting. The looks of awe and fear he had gotten before had now tripled, and he couldn't walk down a hallway without people stopping in their tracks to stare at him.

_'I wonder what would happen if they found out I was actually Merlin,'_ he mused as he sat down for charms.

The rest of the class began to work on a propelling charm, and Mordred and Merlin shared a commiserating look, but went back to pretending to work when Professor Flitwick walked over.

"Mr. Potter!" Flitwick spoke in his high squeaky voice, "I see that you have already finished the propelling charm."

Merlin nodded, and had a rueful grin on his face, "Yeah..."

The professor nodded again, and almost seemed to bounce where he was stood, "After your show of skills during the second task...well, as you know I am half goblin, and you are aware of the...certain effects that your magic has on those of the old magic, yes?"

Merlin stared then his eyes grew, "Wait, you knew?"

Flitwick smiled, his eyes crinkling, "I guessed based off of the evidence, though I have no details on Mr. Longbottom, that being said, your secret is safe with me, however..." Flitwick broke off with a slight cough, " However, I would love to see some of the magic you can do."

Merlin blinked, and grinned, then looked around the room and saw that everyone had stopped their practice to stare at the conversation that was occurring, waiting with awe. Flitwick was nearly jumping up and down with anticipation.

Merlin let out a sigh, and then spread his hand out straight in front of him. He carefully raised it up, and as he did so shouts wrung out from the entire room.

When he opened his eyes, he smirked, as every single item and person was levitating three feet above the ground.

"Oh, wonderful wonderful Mr. Potter!" Flitwick burst out, and he began a slight swimming wobble to move in the air, "Fantastic work, fifty points to..." he blinked.

Merlin smirked, and Gwaine let out a burst of laughter, "Pratdragon, Professor."

Flitwick nodded, and continued his way back towards his floating desk. A few of the braver students joined him, and Gwaine did a spectacular backflip. With a small smile, Merlin slowly brought the class back to the ground, and then shrugged and the exasperated look Mordred sent him.

The news had spread quickly throughout the school, and when Arthur had caught up to them, he just gave Merlin a raised eyebrow, most likely courtesy of Gaius, and continued on.

Merlin had taken Percival aside as well, and quickly outlined the article about Hermione, causing him to clench his fists.

A small smirk appeared soon after.

"I believe Skeeter has forgotten that I have a publicist, and strict rules about when my name can be used. Excuse me, Merlin."

Merlin cackled at the retreating back, and then nodded to himself. Everything seemed to be going quite well.

He made it back to the common room, and was stopped by the sight of a small dirty parchment left on his desk. He used a few charms to make sure it was safe, opened it, and banged his head against the desk.

_Harry. I'm in town, we need to talk. Be at the end of road out of Hogsmeade (past Dervish and Banges) at two o'clock on Saturday afternoon. Bring as much food as you can._

Merlin stared at Sirius' letter for a time after, and the let out a groan.

"Not more trouble..."

* * *

I finally did it! I graduated in the middle of December from college, and finally, finally! can get started back up on my fanfic. Looking back, my work is riddled with errors, so I will also hopefully be going back and fixing those. I haven't written in a while, so please bare with me as I head to bigger chapters once again.

Ah man, but seriously! Finally able to write again, and finally solved some major plot holes I was having! Thank you everyone for waiting, and for messaging me, the messages seriously made me want to continue writing!

Some lines come directly from The Goblet of Fire, so they don't belong to me~.

Please read and review~

~Not Necessarily in Between


	15. Chapter 14

**Notes: Some of the lines in this chapter come directly from the Goblet of Fire, because why rewrite perfection~**

**Read &amp; enjoy~**

* * *

Arthur stared at Merlin, his face blank, no emotions represented except for the slight twitch in his eyebrow.

"Your godfather."

"Yes."

"Your godfather, who has been mistaken for Voldemort's right hand man, who was incarcerated in Azkaban for twelve years."

"Yes..."

"Your godfather, who broke into Hogwarts, and is on the Ministry's most wanted list is hanging about in Hogsmeade."

"Well, when you put it like that..."

Arthur groaned, and leaned his head back into the wall.

Hermione shook her head, and looked over at him, "Was he always like this?"

"YES," Arthur grumbled, Merlin spluttered with indignation.

Hermione gave a small smile, laying down the book she had been reading.

"By the triple goddess, what if he got caught," Merlin groaned, and then glared at Arthur's knowing look.

"You know, you two are actually quite similar," Arthur drawled, causing Merlin to hunch down.

Hermione perked up, and Arthur continued with a smile, "Always getting into trouble, going places you shouldn't, causing undue amounts of stress for everyone around you-"

"Hey!" Merlin pouted, "fine, I was just asking if you wanted to come, you don't have to be a prat about it!"

Arthur grinned, and Hermione hid a small smile with her hand.

"Of course we are coming," Hermione spoke, Arthur nodded in firm agreement and then stood.

"We should leave now, unless you want a contingent of knights to follow us..."

Merlin grimaced and jumped from his chair, "Right! Going!"

~~.~~

It was nearly two when the trio made their way further down the lane out of the shopping area of Hogsmeade.

Merlin was looking over the countryside, amusement and nervousness about seeing Sirius again were mixed with a sense of familiarity at the rolling hills and large gardens.

He stopped at the edge of one of the gardens, smiling as he saw a large black dog sitting up next to a fence post.

"Hello, Sirius." Merlin smiled and kneeled down next to him, Sirius remaining conspicuously stiff, before blinking and wagging his tail.

Sirius then padded away, stopped, and looked back at the trio motioning his head for them to follow him.

He led them up a trail to one of the nearby mountains, Merlin and Arthur kept up quite fine, but Hermione was panting lightly by the time the reached the opening of a small cave set into the mountain side.

Merlin looked around the small cave, and let out a small laugh at seeing Buckbeak tethered to the back of the cave, lazing quietly until he caught sight of Arthur. He snorted and tensed, and Merlin stared at Arthur, who had a look of dawning realization on his face.

"Is that the..." He blanched as Buckbeak let out a shriek, and then sighed.

"Yup!" Merlin grinned, and Hermione rolled her eyes with exasperation.

Arthur let out another sigh, and carefully moved around them. He stopped about a foot out of range of Buckbeak, and then went down into a low bow, not taking his eyes off of the hippogriff.

Buckbeak pranced in place, his beak snapping forcefully, but he slowly stopped and stared at Arthur. The hippogriff then let out a huff, and turned around, apparently deciding that ignoring Arthur was the best thing to do.

Arthur straightened, and walked back over to Merlin's side.

Sirius, the dog, let out a small bark of amusement, and then slowly shifted back into his human form. He was dangerously thin, and his hair was a matted and dirty mess.

He didn't say anything.

"Sirius?"

Sirius looked at him, up and down, then turned to look at Arthur, a sudden sense of amusement tinged with wonder filling his eyes.

"Sirius, what are you doing here?" Merlin continued, but stopped, as his Godfather let out a bark of laughter.

Hermione looked between Merlin and Sirius with a worried look.

When Sirius finished laughing, he sat down on the ground, and with a wave of his hand, a small fire appeared. The bright gold light of his eyes piercing easily through the dark of the cave.

Sirius shook his head,"This explains a lot more than I expected, especially the headaches."

Arthur suddenly peered around the cave, looked at Sirius, and then swore loudly.

Hermione blanched, and Merlin looked at him with wide eyes, "Arthur, what? Wait, Sirius, what is going on?"

Sirius gave Arthur a raised eyebrow, and Arthur nodded, dragging Hermione out of the cave.

Merlin watched them go with wide eyes, and then looked back to Sirius.

"You are looking a lot better than the last time I saw you," Sirius smiled, and gratefully accepted the bag of food Merlin had brought.

"Umm," Merlin gingerly sat down across from him, "When would be the last time we saw each other?"

Sirius stretched back, leaning against the wall.

"The Crystal Cave."

Merlin froze, his eyes wide, and his jaw dropped to his chest.

~~.~~

"Arthur, what are we doing?" Hermione huffed, as she scooched closer to the mountain, trying not to look down over the ledge.

"Giving Merlin and his father time to themselves," Arthur spoke quietly, leaning back with a small smile on his face.

Hermione froze, and stared at Arthur, "His...father?"

Arthur snorted, and shook his head, "Caves, what is with him and caves, the first time we went after him he was living in a cave too."

Hermione blinked at him, and then let out a small sound of distress.

It was roughly ten minutes later when Merlin peaked his head out of the cave, his eyes suspiciously red rimmed, but bright with joy.

"Idiot," Arthur cuffed him over the head, and Merlin let out a sharp noise.

Hermione grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze, and then they followed him back into the cave.

"Still hanging around I see," Balinor looked over at Arthur, and Arthur glared in return.

"No fighting," Merlin spoke, and sat down, Arthur and Hermione copying him.

"Now," Merlin seemed shook his head to try to straighten his thoughts, and turned to look at his godfather/father, "What are you doing here! Do you have any idea how much trouble you could be in if you get caught?"

Balinor spoke, "And I won't. People here will just think I'm a lovable stray, and now that I remember I have had years of practice at this." He shook his head, and continued to eat.

Merlin grumbled, and fidgeted, glaring mutinously.

Balinor sighed and rested a hand on his shoulder, "I won't get caught, not this time. I'm more worried about you in any case," he rubbed his forehead, and with a lazy wave of his other hand summoned a whole bunch of papers over to them from where they had been stacked against the wall.

"You've been loud with your magic use," he gestured at the prophet from last week with the pictures of Merlin at the lake.

Merlin blushed, "I was a bit angry."

Hermione snorted, and then reddened as the three looked at her.

"If that was a bit angry, I wouldn't want to see you actually upset," she spoke, and Arthur nodded enthusiastically, "No, you wouldn't."

Merlin shrugged, and Balinor spoke again, "You have to be careful Merlin, there have been strange and dangerous things happening, and drawing this much attention to yourself is risky."

Merlin looked at him, "What else has been happening?"

Balinor merely handed him a couple old prophets the main headlines speaking for themselves, _Mystery Illness of Bartemius Crouch , _and _Ministry Witch still Missing - Minister of Magic Now Personally Involved. _

Merlin quickly read over the one about Crouch, and Arthur grabbed the one about the missing Ministry witch.

"Percy did say he wasn't feeling well during the ball..." Merlin trailed off.

Hermione sniffed, "Serves him right for sacking his house elf."

Balinor looked over at her, startled, "He fired his house elf?"

"Yeah, at the World Quidditch Cup," said Merlin, and he quickly explained what had happened, from the game to the entire fiasco with his wand and Winky

Balinor frowned, "So you saw the elf in the top box, but Crouch never came and there was an empty seat the entire time...Merlin, did you check for your wand after you left the Top Box?"

Merlin blinked, and thought back, "No."

"Winky wouldn't have taken his wand!" Hermione insited.

"Of course not, but there were others in the Top Box," Balinor muttered.

Arthur shook his head, "Winky and the empty seat were the only ones directly behind Merlin, the rest were my family, the Bulgarian Ministers, Cornelius Fudge, and that idiot Ludo Bagman."

"Well, at least we know you didn't take it," Merlin grinned at Arthur, who gave him a flat stare.

"Bagman is weird though," Merlin continued, "He keeps trying to help me with the tournament."

"He was also in the forest before the Dark Mark went off, " Hermione's forehead was wrinkled with thought.

"He isn't a Death Eater though," Arthur tapped his finger against the stone floor, "at least I don't think so, Father would have said something."

Balinor looked over at Arthur with a piercing gaze, which Arthur returned with a hard look.

Merlin sighed, and nudged Arthur's foot to stop the staring contest.

"None of this makes sense," Balinor spoke after a time, "The reinstatement of the tournament, Barty Crouch missing work, and working so hard to get the tournament passed and not showing up after. If he's ever taken a day off of work because of illness, I'll eat Buckbeak."

"Did you know Crouch?" Merlin asked.

"Of course, " Balinor spat, "He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban - without a trial."

Hermione gasped, "_What?"_

Arthur blinked, and then slowly curled his fingers into a fist.

Merlin's magic reacted with a sharp snap, only to calm once Balinor had placed a hand on his shoulder again.

"How could he do that!" Hermione fumed.

Balinor shook his head, "He used to be the head of the magical law enforcement, and he was going to be the next Minister, well, at least until his own son got caught with a group of Death Eaters."

Merlin blinked, "His son?"

"Yep," Balinor took a large bite, chewed, swallowed, and continued, "Nasty little shock for old Barty, I'd imagine. I was in Azkaban when they brought him in, not even sure if he was a Death Eater at that point."

"Did Crouch try to get his son out?" Hermione whispered.

Balinor gave her a look, "Get him out? Of course not, anything that could have affected his reputation was dealt with swiftly and with no justice. You saw how he treated his house elf. No, he sent that boy directly to Azkaban."

"He gave his own son to the Dementors?" asked Merlin quietly, and Balinor nodded, obviously thinking back.

"Is he still there?" Arthur asked.

Balinor shook his head, "Died within a year, lost it, most of them did, just prolongs the suffering instead of killing them outright."

Arthur nodded, "So Crouch went from being a shoo in for Minister, to having his entire career nearly destroyed because of his son."

Merlin let out a low groan, "None of this makes sense...We know that Crouch isn't acting normal. We know that someone stole my wand in the Top Box, and that they are somehow related to Voldemort."

"Don't forget they put your name in the Goblet of Fire," said Hermione.

"So, most likely a Death Eater with a plan, something to do with the tournament, and especially with Merlin."

Merlin blinked, and then his mind slipped back to the summer, "I had a vision...over the summer. Voldemort was in it...so was Wormtail...they killed a muggle, I can't remember his name. They said something about a plan...I can't remember much..." Merlin rubbed his forehead, just the act of trying to remember was causing his scar to act up.

A large hand moved his gently out of the way, and Merlin felt Balinor's magic wash over the scar. After a moment, he sat back a large from on his face,"That is very dark magic, Merlin."

Merlin shrugged, and avoiding Arthur's gaze.

"I think it is nearly time for you to get back to school," Balinor spoke after a moment of silence looking at the scar on his son's head with concern, and Merlin leaned back to look outside, seeing that the sky was starting to turn orange,red, and pink with the upcoming sunset.

They all got to their feet, and Balinor swept Merlin into a quick hug, "Stay safe."

"I should be telling you that," Merlin huffed.

"I'll make sure of it," Arthur spoke from nearby, and Balinor gave him a small nod.

Arthur then stalled near the front of the cave, and looked back at Merlin's one time father.

"There aren't any records are there, of your trial?" asked Arthur

"Of course not," Balinor replied.

Arthur nodded to himself, and spoke after a few more minutes "Don't get yourself caught, then Merlin would go after you, and I'd have to go after him, and it would all be a mess."

Balinor huffed, "Get out."

Merlin gave a large smile and a wave as he quickly moved to catch up to Arthur, before turning back, "Oh! Gaius is back as well! His name is Gregson, he is healer at Saint Mungos and works at Hogwarts now! You should see if you can owl him!"

A hand reached out and grabbed Merlin's shoulder, leaving Balinor with a small smile on his face.

* * *

Sorry about the lateness, this is entirely **SIRIUS BLACK'S FAULT.**

Urgh, he is evil and doesn't want to be written at all, especially with the whole reincarnation stuff.  
If you have questions about his personality and stuff, please feel free to pm me, I do have reasons behind who he is and how he acts, so if he seems out of character more then the other reincarnations there are reasons.

Blegh. WELL AT LEAST THAT IS DONE WITH HAHA!

Please leave a review on your way out!

~Not Necessarily in Between


	16. Chapter 15

Next chapter up! If it seems familiar, I used a bunch of stuff from JK, the dream sequence and after and what not. Nothing belongs to me. Please enjoy

* * *

Breakfast the next morning had turned into an amazing affair, all of the knights had shown up, as well as Mordred, Hermione, Luna, Isolde, and even Gaius had joined them for once. Merlin and Arthur were sitting in their appropriate seats on the round table, Merlin flicking jinxes and charms at the others when they weren't paying attention, but stopped when owls started streaming in with letters.

Merlin blinked in bemusement when piles of letters started stacking up in front of him, and in front of Hermione. The bemusement quickly froze, and he vaulted from his seat, nearly tackling Hermione away from the letters (He tripped over a few books on the floor on the way.)

"What? Merlin!" Hermione pushed him off, and then raised an eyebrow.

Merlin was already looking at the pile of letters on the table, "Don't touch them!"

Lancelot hastily backed away, hands held high against his chest.

"What is it?" Percival moved over, and helped Hermione to her feet, smiling a little at the blush that crossed her face.

Luna glared at the stack of letters, her dreamy expression somehow making it more intimidating, "It seems that there has been a nation wide Nargle infection...I told father not to get rid of the mistletoe bushes...oh poor Mr. Humphert he must be overrun."

Merlin nodded, distracted, "Yeah, almost a third of that pile is cursed...and there might be potions on some of the rest that I can't sense..."

"Cursed!" Hermione stepped back from the table, and Arthur walked up next to Merlin.

"Is it just Hermione's pile, or is it yours as well?"

Merlin tilted his head, "Mostly Hermione's. I think there may be some tracking charms on mine, but that is standard."

"Why would Hermione's mail be cursed?" Gwaine nudged his way forward, and was frowning at the stack of letters.

Merlin shrugged, and grabbed one that looked safe enough. He opened it, and then his face blanched. The next second he burned the letter, his eyes narrowed. He turned to the pile and with a wave of his hand, burned it.

"What!" Hermione squawked, moving forward,"Merlin what was that!"

"They were responses to Rita's article, " Merlin glared at the now smoldering pile of ash, and then turned to Percival, "I would suggest getting your people on her as soon as possible."

Percival nodded, but Hermione moved forward and stood up to Merlin, "What did they say, Merlin?"

Merlin flinched and shuffled, "It wasn't particularly nice, Hermione, definitely better that you didn't read it."

Hermione huffed and crossed her arms, "Oh, I wish I knew how she could get this stuff! There is no way she can know all of this she wasn't even around for these conversations!" Hermione nodded her head back and forth, "Maybe she has bugs set up?"

Merlin nodded in agreement, and let Hermione explain to the others what she meant by bugging.

"Tracking charms are normal for your mail?" Gaius spoke.

Merlin shrugged, and turned to him, "Well, not my mail usually, but I have found a bunch on my stuff, dispelled it when I first noticed...makes some sense I guess...I do tend to get into trouble...could have just asked me though." He grumbled out the last part, and then rubbed a hand through his hair.

Gaius let out a sigh, and then shook his head, "Off with you, you have classes, get. I will look into this matter."

Merlin smiled, and waved to Gaius as they all rushed out of the common room.

~~.~~

Merlin stretched his hands over his head, grinning as he walked down the hallway away from Transfiguration.

He let out a squeak as two pairs of hands grabbed his shoulders and he found himself being lifted up.

"What? What!" He squirmed.

"Oi, calm down ickle-harrikins!" The voice that belonged to the pair of hands on his left piped up, and he groaned.

"Fred, George, what are you doing!" Merlin squirmed again, but a smile had slid over his face.

Merlin was dragged into an empty classroom, and placed (gently) down into a chair.

Fred and George grinned, and propped themselves up against the large teacher desk closer to the front of the room.

Neither of them spoke.

Merlin blinked.

Fred fidgeted.

Merlin looked around the room.

"Oh, come on!" George groaned, "Let us in on the joke already!"

"What?" Merlin gave him a bemused smile.

Fred rolled his eyes, "One, you left Gryffindor, which, by the way mate, good on you, they were right assholes."

"Two," George continued, 'You have somehow managed to live somewhere else, and take half of Gryffindor with you, as well as a 'puff, a couple badgers, THE snake, and the other champions."

"Three!" Fred held up three fingers quite aggressively, "That magic that you did was fucking awesome."

George looked at him pleadingly, "You have to tell us, we are dying to know, this is the best prank that anyone has ever pulled. No one knows what is going on!"

"Please!" Fred joined in with the puppy dog eyes.

Merlin looked between the two of them, and a slow, small smirk appeared.

"Alright, but on one condition."

~~.~~

Merlin was sitting in the common room, reading peacefully, when a deafening shout rent through the room.

"MERLIN!" Arthur pushed open the doors, and made his way over to where Merlin was biting on his lips to stop himself from laughing.

"Yes, Sire?" Merlin placed his book down, and opened his eyes wide, "Oh, dear."

Arthur was bright red, from head to toe, and wearing what looked to be a copy of Gwen's purple gown. His hair had a multitude of ponytails tied with itty bitty purple ribbons.

Somewhere in the background, Leon snorted.

"Merlin. Run." Arthur growled, and Merlin bolted from his seat, rushing from the common room as Gwaine broke down with laughter.

~~.~~

Merlin, Percival, Isolde, and Lancelot were out on the Quidditch pitch later that night. Lancelot, Merlin, and Percival looking at the pitch with faint traces of horror.

"What have they done!" Lancelot groaned.

Percival grunted in agreement.

"It's a maze," Merlin muttered looking at the hedges that were being grown on the quidditch pitch.

"Exactly right, Mr. Potter!" Ludo Bagman beamed, "The final task will be to get to the center of the maze, and be the first one to grab the cup!"

"So eet eez just a maze?" Isolde muttered.

"There will be challenges in the maze that you have to get through, so don't think it will be easy...now because of..events of the last task, we are going with solely the scores from the first task to see who goes in what place. "

Bagman scrounged through his pockets, and quickly grabbed a piece of paper, "Ah, here we go, We have Mr. Potter in first, Mr. Krum in second, Mr. Diggory in third, and the lovely lady Delacour in fourth place. You will now have thirty minutes to look around the maze."

Merlin snorted as he began to wander, Lancelot trailing behind him.

"What?"

Merlin shrugged, "Wizards really need to get new ideas for trials, this is the second time I have to go through a hedge maze, though last time the hedges almost ate me...It was after you came to Camelot the first time, but after you left. Arthur got the whole kingdom cursed because he killed a unicorn."

Lancelot shook his head, "Well then, glad I wasn't there for that."

Merlin shrugged, "Wasn't the worst thing that happened, and Arthur learned a bit from it."

Lancelot nodded, and walked down a different path at a crossroads.

After the thirty minutes was up, the quarter made their way back up to the castle, talking amongst themselves, never looking in the direction of Hagrid's shack or the Forbidden Forest.

~~.~~.~~

It was roughly two weeks later that Merlin knew it was time for him to look into what the scar on his forehead actually was.

He had been sitting next to Mordred when Trelawney had asked them to look at the position of mars or some such rot. Merlin felt himself slowly leaning forward, and his eyes began to close.

He found himself in the air, flying on Kilgarrah's back. He smiled as he watched mountains and forest pass underneath them. Small villages and houses dotting the countryside. His smile widened as they neared Camelot, swooping over the gates, but it began to fade as the dragon made his way into the caves underneath the city, where he had previously been held captive.

Merlin stepped off of Kilgarrah's back and made his way down the long hallway that was connected to the cave. He walked forward and slowly entered a room he had never seen before.

There were two dark shapes on the floor beside a chair...both of them were stirring...One was a huge snake...the other was short, balding man, a man with watery eyes and a pointed nose...he was wheezing and sobbing on the hearth rug...

"You are in luck, Wormtail," said a cold high pitched voice from the depths of the chair. "You are very fortunate indeed. Your blunder has not ruined everything, he is dead."

My Lord," gasped the man on the floor, "My Lord, I am ... I am so pleased... and so sorry..."

"Nagini," said the cold voice, " you are out of luck. I will not be feeding Wormtail to you, after all ...but nevermind, nevermind...there is still Harry Potter..."

The snake hissed. Merlin could see its tongue fluttering.

"Now, Wormtail," said the cold voice, " perhaps one more little reminder why I will not tolerate another blunder from you..."

"My Lord...no...I beg you..."

The tip of a wand emerged from around the back of the chair. It was pointing at Wormtail.

"_Crucio_!" said the cold voice.

Wormtail screamed, screamed as though every nerve in his body were on fire, the screaming filled Merlin's ears as the scar on his forehead seared in pain, he was yelling too...Voldemort would hear him, would know he was there...

'_Emrys, EMRYS!'_

Merlin jolted up from where he had been laying on the floor, his hands clutched over his scar, that felt much too hot. Mordred was half curved over him, blocking him from the rest of the class. Gwaine was standing in the way of a the students who were trying to peer around Mordred

"Are, are you alright?" Mordred levered Merlin into a sitting position.

"Of course he isn't, what was it Potter!" Trelawney's eyes were wider than usual with excitement, "A premonition, an apparition, what did you see?"

"Nothing," Merlin muttered, leaning heavily into Mordred's frame.

"You were clutching your scar," said Professor Trelawney, "You were clutching your scar and rolling on the floor! Come now, Potter, I have experience with these matters!"

Merlin ignored her, and began to stand up, "Just a headache, I think I'm going to go to the hospital wing."

"I'm going with him!" Mordred spoke quickly, and helped Merlin towards the trap door.

"I'm going too!" Gwaine bounded forward, following Merlin down the ladder.

As Merlin descended down the ladder, Mordred heard a mutter of "Bloody show off." He quickly scanned the room, and caught Ron Weasley's eyes, glaring at him until the other boy looked away.

Mordred quickly caught up to Merlin and Gwaine, and slung an arm underneath one of his shoulders.

"That was different from normal," Merlin muttered, just loud enough for Mordred to hear him.

"You should tell your father and Gaius, they may be able to help," Mordred said.

"Probably..." Merlin sighed.

"What was it?" Gwaine asked.

"I think...I think I saw Voldemort...this is really not good, it wasn't a vision of the future either, I think..." Merlin trailed off, bringing a hand up to rub at his scar.

They made it to the common room, and Merlin quickly moved over to a desk and grabbed a piece of paper and a quill to write down all that he could remember. Once he was done, he went over to one of the couches and collapsed.

Gwaine read the note and grimaced. He waved his wand and made a copy. At the raised eyebrow for Mordred he responded, "One for Balinor, I'll send it off now, looks like Merlin's already falling asleep."

Mordred looked over and hid a small smile as Merlin collapsed completely into the chair.

"Right, I'll go find Gaius and Arthur."

~~.~~

Merlin turned away from whatever was in front of him. It was being obnoxious and annoying.

"Merlin, Merlin, wake up, no matter what you say I am not letting you sleep on the couch all night."

Merlin groaned, and blearily opened his eyes.

Arthur stood over him, wrinkles present on his brow, but a small smirk firmly in place.

"Whazzat?"

Arthur rolled his eyes, "Eloquent as always." With a sigh he heaved Merlin to his feet, and prodded him up the stairs. He followed Merlin into his bedroom, and the two of the curled up together underneath the comforters. Merlin fell asleep instantly.

* * *

Build up is finally done. Scene, set. Lights, CAMERA- Next chapter will finally be the third task. That is when it gets fun!

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, you guys are awesome!

Please leave a review on your way out.

~Not Necessarily in Between


	17. Chapter 16

Hahaha! Finally! Geez this took forever, I'm glad I am soon going to be off the books because it is quite annoying to write to the chapters!

Please enjoy~

* * *

Merlin stretched his arms above his head as he sleepily meandered his way down to the main hall. He yawned and jolted when Arthur grabbed his arm and stopped him from running straight into a pillar.

"...you are going to fall asleep in the middle of the maze, aren't you," Arthur spoke dryly, and Merlin quirked him a grin.

"Of course not, when have I ever fallen asleep when I need to get things done!"

Arthur raised an eyebrow, and Merlin shuffled a little, before glaring back. "Prat."

"Merlin,I could hear you all the way down the hall" Lancelot came around the corner and rolled his eyes at the sight of Arthur having caught Merlin in a headlock, "Merlin, we have to go, the Champions families are up front, and apparently Champions have the rest of the day off before the task."

Merlin froze, and then stared up, "...families? But I...oh triple goddess, please don't tell me that Dumbledore brought the Dursleys here!"

Arthur grumped, and let Merlin go, he looked over to Lancelot, "If they are, I am sure you know what to do."

Lancelot smiled, and Merlin let out a low sigh. He then moved forward, and waved at Arthur who had to take a turn to get to class.

"Be careful, both of you, it would be a nuisance to have one of you die just when we all got back," Arthur commanded, causing Lancelot to bow, and Merlin to grin.

They moved to the Great Hall, and suddenly Fred and George appeared next to Merlin, beaming.

"Hello oh great and wise one!" Fred started.

"All holy and powerful Lord Merlin!" George spoke next, and then they both grabbed his arms and dragged him down the hallway.

"Umm..." Merlin looked back and saw Lancelot grinning as he followed.

They stopped in a room that was full of people, adults were milling around, and Merlin blinked as Mrs. Weasley appeared before him.

"Surprise!" She said excitedly, and Merlin blinked a couple times before a shy timid smile grew over his face.

"Thought we would come to watch you, Harry!" She continued, and Merlin blushed.

"I..thank you..I didn't even think," he tumbled over his words, and Fred patted his messy hair.

"No worries, even if Ron is being a brat, that doesn't mean we don't consider you part of our family."

Merlin battled Fred's hand away, and then was pulled into Mrs. Weasley's hug.

As he looked over her shoulder, he saw Bill staring at him with a mix of amusement and exasperation.

Merlin stepped back from the hug, and Bill came forward, knocking Merlin on the head.

"I should have known," he muttered, and then Merlin heard a small gasp from behind him, and turned around to see Isolde looking at Bill with wide adoring eyes.

"...Really?" Merlin huffed, and Fred and George turned to look at him.

Merlin shrugged, "Tristan."

The twins blinked, and then smiled and shook their heads, "Well, this is a development!" George grinned, and they both bounded over to make fun of there love struck brother.

"So Harry, are you going to show us around?" Mrs. Weasley grinned easily, seemingly ignoring her families antics with the ease of long practice, and Merlin bit his lip and looked up at her.

"Umm, sure...you...do know I'm not a Gryffindor anymore right?"

Mrs. Weasley nodded, "Yes, Arthur and I heard it from Ginny, strange situation this year, isn't it! New houses, and moving people all around! I'm surprised Dumbledore let it happen!"

Merlin grinned, "I'm pretty sure it was more up to Hogwarts, and less up to Dumbledore, I can take you there if you want to look?"

Mrs. Weasley beamed, and nodded, however a small cough made Merlin look over to Percival.

"You are taking zem to the house? Ve should all go," Percival waved his hand at the group, and Merlin shrugged in agreement. "Sure."

"You all live in the same House?" Isolde's mother looked confused, and Merlin grinned.

"Well, sort of? It is a new House and we have had quite a few students transfer over, and then we all just started training there and studying together so...yeah?"

"I haff never heard of a team Triwizard Tournament before," Percival's dad huffed, and looked a bit bemused at the idea.

"We all decided early on that this tournament was dangerous, and we would rather work together and all survive then work on our own and possibly watch someone get killed," Lancelot spoke, his voice deceptively quiet.

Everyone in the room turned to look at him, and Merlin smiled his goofy grin, thinking back on the past few weeks of training that they had all suffered through. He had mainly been stuck doing sword and strengthening exercises, while the other looked up esoteric spells that might be useful for the coming task.

Merlin led the way to the House, an amused grin sliding over his face at the sight of the large crowd.

He stopped just outside the Great Hall, and heard the rustle and bustle of lunch going on.

"Hey, Cedric, mind taking them the rest of the way, I need to do something," Merlin nodded to him, and stepped into the hall, looking down the Gryffindor table until he spotted to heads of bright red hair.

"Hey," he gave halfhearted wave as Ron looked up, and his eyes creased, and when Ginny looked up with a confusion.

"Um, well, your mum and Bill are here, and we are about to take them on a tour of our house and Fred and George are coming as well, so I guess I just wanted to know if you wanted to come along as well, I mean you don't have to if you don't want to but I'm pretty sure that it won't be a problem and I think you are already done with tests for the day so-"

"We would love to, Harry," Ginny grinned, and shoved Ron out of his seat, and the both began to follow Merlin back to Pratdragon.

They walked up the steps, and entered to see all of the adults looking around the common room, most looking at the large amount of bookshelves tucked under the stairs to the balcony where Merlin and Arthur's rooms were.

Lancelot noticed him enter, and grinned, waving him over to the Round Table, where he was lounging with Gwaine.

"Yo! Looks like we got a full house," Gwaine grinned, and laughed at Merlin's face. Gaius wandered by, and gave Merlin a commiserating look, which made Merlin smile.

"Honestly, Harry, don't you think a bit of warning would be nice," Hermione grumped from nearby, where she was leaning over a rather large charms book.

Merlin shrugged again, and meandered over to the Round Table a well, brushing his fingers over the etchings in the stone that proclaimed his place.

"You know, Charlie would absolutely die to see this," Bill smiled at him, leaning back in a chair across the way.

He then looked over the table and grinned, "Lancelot, Gwaine."

Gwaine's expression went giddy, "Yes! Finally! Drinking buddies are back!"

Merlin shook his head, and let them squabble, he looked over to Ginny and Ron, who had joined in looking around the common room, Ginny practically hyperventilating over the table and books, and Ron looking around at the general setup and style, Ginny pinching him every time he tried to open his mouth.

"You should be glad the Sire isn't back yet, or Weasley over there would be sporting a black eye," Leon spoke from nearby, and Merlin shrugged.

"It would be rude to invite his whole family up without him."

Leon shrugged, "Just a warning."

They all hung around the room, an afternoon snack was delivered at some point, and Arthur came back with an unamused expression to see the common room full of strangers. He glared at Ron for a bit, before settling in the seat next to Merlin, who was trying to explain the intricacies of old magic to Percival's family.

Soon a large gong sounded from a timer spell Merlin had set up, and he breathed out as all the other champions looked around.

"Time to go," Merlin put on a false grin, and began to trail after the others, his insides squirming with nerves.

Arthur grabbed him just as he was about to leave, spinning him around and planting a kiss firmly on his mouth.

"Don't you dare die, you hear me! That is an order!" He growled, and Merlin let out a shaky breathe.

"Well you know how good I am at following those," He grinned and breathed out once more, taking a deep breathe and throwing his shoulders back.

~~.~~

_"I'm going to die and this is all Kilgarrah's fault, I don't know how but it is!"_

Merlin pretended to grin as he stared into the maze, sharing commiserating glances with the others as the looked into the opening of the maze.

A crowd had slowly gathered behind them in the stands, and Merlin listened with half an ear as McGonagall explained that shooting red sparks up into the sky would have one of the teachers come in to save them from an untimely demise.

"Would have been nicer with the dragons," Merlin muttered, and Isolde punched him on the shoulder.

"Like you had any problem with those, eediot!" she grinned at him, and he grinned back.

"And with first place we have, Harry Potter!" Bagman shouted out, and a loud rounding of applause followed, "In second we have Victor Krum, third place is Cedric Diggory, and lovely Miss Fleur Delacour is in fourth. Each champion will enter the maze based off of their place, so Mr. Potter, are you ready?"

Merlin rolled his eyes, but nodded, and at the blast of the whistle he took off into the maze.

Merlin quickly summoned a light, and began to trek around the many passages. As he turned left down another path, he heard the whistle go off again. He closed his eyes, and felt where Percival was, he had entered from the south side and was moving along the edge, apparently looking for the best way into the depths.

Merlin twitched, and spread his magic out, something felt _wrong _about the maze, but he couldn't feel anyone around, so he trudged forward, his magic on high alert.

He used a quick _point me_ spell, modern magic could be useful sometimes, and continued through the maze. Another whistle blast rang out, and Merlin nodded to himself as he felt Lancelot enter the boundaries as well.

He was quickly distracted as a sudden cold filled the maze, clenching into his heart and causing him to puff out small breaths of foggy air. The coldness was ever closing, and he heard a scream rushing into his ears, black curtains falling over his eyes. The ice began to coat his heart, his chest heaved with harshness of the air around him, and he nearly closed his eyes to try to ward out the suffocating fear that filled him.

"NO!" He shouted, and with a blast of magic the dorocha was slammed backward, disintegrating into a heap of ashes.

Merlin blinked, looked at his hands, and then let out a startled laugh as he realized that it hadn't been a dorocha at all, just a boggart.

"Blasted thing," Merlin grumbled, catching his breath and forcefully shoving the memories of his and Lancelot's deaths out of the way.

While he had been destroying his greatest fear, Isolde had entered the maze as well, and Merlin felt them as the progressed, moved forward, and backtracked. He himself moved forward, got caught in quite a few dead ends, and ended up growling about hedge mazes were a waste of everyone's time, and there better not be a surprise at the end like last time.

He moved down another row, and stopped to stare at the golden mist that was floating through the hedges. He reached out with his magic, and rolled his eyes as he felt the intent to confuse, bamboozle, and flip the world around. He waved a hand and the mist dissipated, letting him walk freely through the maze.

Merlin looked around, a bit annoyed at this point, "I swear it was supposed to be harder than this..."

He sighed, and continued to sprint around for ten minutes, not running into anything or anyone. As he turned a corner, he ran almost directly into a Blast Ended Skrewt. It was ten feet long, looked like a giant scorpion, and was seemingly endlessly pissed that Merlin had nearly run it over.

"Nope!" Merlin flailed out of the way, rolling as the stinger nearly impaled him. He glanced over the monster as he rolled, and saw that thought the back was well armored, the belly was unadorned.

With a quiet incantation under his breath Merlin used the earth beneath the Skrewt to blast up around it, securing it and it's pincer in place, and slowly pulling them into the ground until it was almost completely submerged.

Merlin shook his head, and edged his way around the clearing, moving forward steadily while keeping a magical eye out on all that was surrounding him.

He moved forward, and backwards, still rarely running into anything, his mind slowly going back to the idea of _trap_ again and again.

He saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and his light flashed over to it, causing him to stop in awe.

"Oh, you are a Sphinx!" Merlin nearly gushed, and moved up to the startled creature.

"...Lord Emrys?" The sphinx blinked in what could be surprise, and then gave him a slight bow, "I did not realize that you were part of this test, my Lord," and she began to move out of the way.

"Oh, no please, I need to compete like everyone else, I have to pass a riddle, don't I?" Merlin was inordinately pleased to have to pass a Sphinx's riddle, he hadn't done that last time!

The sphinx looked at him with bemusement, and then sat back up, "Very well, my lord,

It is cold and it is hot

It is white and it is dark

It is stone and it is wax

But its true nature is meat

and its color is red."

Merlin blinked, and stepped back folding his arms over his chest, "So I know for a fact it is meat, and red colored..something to devour, something internal...cold and hot, white and dark, stone and wax...so it can be both one or another, it can exist in different states...depending on what it is? Who is using it?" Merlin rubbed a hand over his hair, breathing deeply. "Let's see, red always reminds me of Camelot, Arthur is hot headed, and I guess Uther was the opposite, always so cold...ah hot and cold, white and dark, stone and wax, are all the nature of it aren't they?" Merlin looked at the sphinx with a grin, "The answer is the human heart."

The sphinx grinned, and stood aside to let Merlin pass. Merlin bowed to the majestic being, and then sprinted full out down the path. He could feel another person drawing close, and grinned as he saw the cup ahead, Lancelot running down another path.

"Oh Lan- LOOK OUT!" Merlin ran towards him as the hedge to his left was suddenly mowed down and a gigantic spider rushed forward. Lancelot rushed and dodged, rolling to his feet, grabbed his wand and cast a bombarda. Not that it had much effect.

"Shit, magic resistant!" He cried out, and Merlin quickly thought up a new plan.

"_ONBREGDAN, ONBREDGAN, FLEOGE!" _ With a cry, one of the sword he had summoned from the practice room flew forward, and impaled the spider, pushing it back. Merlin tossed the other one to Lancelot, who grinned with delight rushing forward to finish the spider off. Lancelot grabbed the sword out of the spiders side and brought it back to Merlin.

"His Majesty will be most amused that you would rather throw a sword then actually use it, you know," Lancelot grinned, and carefully wiped the spider entrails from the sword, before belting it at his side.

Merlin grinned, "It has always worked before, so why change it?"

They both looked at each other and laughed. Merlin then turned to look over his shoulder at the cup, "You want it?"

Lancelot shrugged, and was about to speak when Merlin interrupted, "And if you try to use the same line as you did when you turned down the knighthood after defeating the gryffin I will smack you."

Lancelot let out a bubbling laugh, "Fine, fine, how about we both grab it? Glory for Hogwarts in the end, and two wins for House Pratdragon, secretly, of course."

Merlin stared at him, but knew there would be no better compromise, as Lancelot was far too noble to do anything else.

"Fine, but I'm making sure you have to do all of the interviews," Merlin grumbled, and was sufficiently cheered up with the blanching of Lancelot's face.

Merlin quickly checked, and as he felt that neither Isolde or Percival was nearby, motioned Lancelot forward.

"Well, then on three?" Lancelot grinned, and the both stood around the cup.

"One, two, three-" As the reached out to touch the handles, a horrible feeling of dread filled Merlin's insides.

"Wai-" the words caught in Merlin's throat as he felt himself being jerked forward and around, and with a jolt and crash, felt himself being thrown from the portkey. Disoriented, he stumbled forward, only to hear a familiar voice rasp out a terrifyingly familiar spell.

"Avada Kedrava."

* * *

What is this? A cliff hanger? For shame~

The riddle that the sphinx used is actually a riddle that a dragon asked Merlin, so I had to include it!

I just got a job, so I will be going back to sporadic updates (I never really left them, did I...) I will try to update when I can, but my muse has also decided upon having five stories active at once, so balderdash.

Please leave a review on your way out!

~Not Necessarily in Between


	18. Chapter 17

Woot! A chapter! Erm, my muse went insane-so enjoy!

* * *

Lancelot stared in shock as the beam of green light raced forward highlighting the ground as it moved, and let out a guttural sound as the light hit.

He let out a large cry as he watched the light slam Merlin straight in the chest, Merlin's eyes widened, staring down in shock, and then Lancelot watched as his best friend slowly fell backwards, not a sound leaving his lips. He landed with a muffled thump on the ground, blank eyes staring straight up.

"No, NO!" Lancelot was frozen in place, his entire body shaking. He looked up in the direction that the light came from, and let out a wounded sound. A beam of light jetted his direction, but he ducked underneath it, and rolled to find cover.

Looking around, he found that they had landed in a forest clearing of some kind, and nodding to himself, he quickly moved behind one of the trees.

"Come on out kid," the man spoke, his tongue darting out of his mouth, "I just got a few questions for you, then you won't need to worry about anything ever again."

"Didn't think he would die so quick though," the voice sounded a bit muffled, "My Lord was getting worried because of his powers, looks like only one time lucky huh. The high and mighty Harry Potter."

Lancelot's eyes widened at the implication, and a low snarl left his mouth, "Death Eater..." He snuck a look from behind the tree, and saw that the Death Eater was facing him, standing in front of Merlin's body. He grimaced, and growled under his breath, grabbing a small item from his pocket and quickly enlarging it, but keeping himself hidden.

Sword in hand, Lancelot quickly peeked over to look at the Death Eater, and nearly swore when he saw the man moving around, but still standing in between himself and Merlin's...body.

Lancelot quickly pulled himself back, held himself together, and then quietly moved so he was getting better to a position to charge at the man without being caught in a spell.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" the man cackled, with an insane look in his eyes as they twitched around the clearing.

"Aw, think you can hide?" The man grinned, and raised his wand, "Humane-"

Lancelot rushed forward, sword quickly rising to flash along the man's wand arm, causing him to swear and drop it as the pain from the cut made his arm spasm.

Another move, and Lancelot turned and bashed the man's head with the butt of the sword.

"Incarcerous" Lancelot spoke quickly, and with a flash of his wand the man was bound.

Lancelot bent over and grabbed the stranger's wand, tucking it into his cloak, before rushing over to kneel next to Merlin.

Lancelot breathed out a low breath, and carefully placed his fingers on Merlin's shoulder.

"Merlin? Merlin please...you can't..." Lancelot shook his shoulder, but there was no response, vivid green eyes staring blankly ahead of him.

"Merlin...Merlin...Arthur needs you, you can't...not here, Merlin," Lancelot's fingers found Merlin's throat, and where...where Merlin's pulse should have been.

"No..." Lancelot grabbed tighter, "No, you can't do this..." He breathed out, and carefully gathered Merlin close to his chest, "We, we just all got together, you can't...It will kill Arthur..."

Lancelot held Merlin close, pleading and begging for the younger boy to wake up, afternoon turned to night, and Lancelot ignored the cold and dark sweeping in. He had thought a couple of times of grabbing the portkey and taking them back, but he wanted information from the Death Eater, he wanted to _hurt _him and doubted he would be able to...and...Arthur.

How could he possibly tell Arthur? They had finally all gotten back together, and Merlin and Arthur had also finally, well, gotten together. This would absolutely break him... Lancelot wasn't sure who this wouldn't break. Merlin was their center point, there axis, what they all moved around. He had been back in Camelot as well, they just hadn't noticed it.

Lancelot's tight grip on the body of his best friend slowly loosened, and Merlin's corpse was gently placed on the ground. Lancelot took off his cloak and gently placed it over Merlin's body, not able to place it over the blank staring eyes, that would feel to...permanent.

Lancelot looked over at the stranger who still hadn't awakened, and cast a powerful sleep spell over him. Lancelot moved his back to rest against a tree, tears freely falling from his face, and he succumbed to sleep.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

He started awake, his hand automatically tightening around his sword as he swiftly leaped to his feet.

Looking around for what started him, he did a quick scan of the surroundings, the clearing was still empty but for the the Death Eater and Merlin's too still body.

However, a loud _THWUMP_ soon filled the air, and Lancelot blinked, breathing out, slowly looking up.

He recognized that sound.

A large shape was above the clearing, shadowing it in the early morning light. Another loud _Thwump _ broke over the forest as the shape landed in the clearing.

"Kilgharrah...?" Lancelot looked over to the dragon, who was staring down at Merlin's body.

The dragon looked up at him, slow to remove his eyes from Merlin, "Ah...the young and noble Lancelot..." the dragon huffed, turning his large snout back down to gently push at Merlin's head.

"He..." Lancelot struggled to say anything, "Please? Can you?"

The dragon looked at him, and let out a soft sound, a rush of breath, "Do you know the spell he was hit with does?"

Lancelot blinked, "It, it is the killing curse... but, he survived it before! His magic must have..."

Kilgharrah nodded, and laid down in the clearing, curling the tiniest bit around Merlin.

"What that curse does, young..wizard," Lancelot was sure he could hear the hint of a smirk at those words, " is separate the soul from the body, instantly destroying the connection. For any human, that shock would instantly kill them." The dragon leaned down again laying his head next to Merlin's body.

"However, the young warlock's soul is already intrinsically tied with the afterlife and the spirits that linger around it."

"So what does that mean?" Lancelot begged the dragon to respond clearly.

The dragon huffed, "All he needs is time to find himself again, and he will return."

Lancelot felt the world slide out of focus, not noticing as he dropped to his knees, or as his sword fell from his grasp.

"He...he will live?"

"It will take time, more if I had not heard his cries. He will return soon." The dragon's gaze moved over with predatory sharpness to the man who still lay bound and asleep. "Was that the one who did this?"

Lancelot nodded, groping around his knees until he found his sword again. He staggered to his feet, and carefully moved forward to sit on Merlin's other side.

"He...he is a follower of Voldemort, I haven't questioned him yet, but from what I can tell, this was done on his orders to test Merlin-Harry Potter."

The dragon closed his eyes, "Even in this life he is touched by fate. The boy-who-lived indeed."

"Did you know about him?" Lancelot carefully laid his hand on Merlin's arm, ignoring the unnatural cold.

"I have felt the spirit of a dragon lord growing stronger of these past months, but did not know it was him until the passing," Kilgharrah blinked, and then lifted his head, eyes staring at Merlin.

The body suddenly shuddered, and shot up as a loud gasp was made. Gold eyes, blinked close, and then open again, no longer void of life. Lancelot reached out and grabbed Merlin to keep him from falling back on the ground.

Merlin breathed loudly for a minute, gaze flicking over the clearing, one hand scrabbling to grab Lancelot's the other clutched at his chest where the curse had hit.

His eyes finally stopped to rest at the large shape that was hovering over him.

"...gharrah?" Merlin spoke, barely a whisper.

Kilgharrah nodded, "Indeed young warlock, welcome back."

Merlin let out a pained wheeze, his hand that had been clenched to his chest carefully rising to rest against the dragon's snout. Lancelot helped prop him up so Merlin could lean his head against the dragon's still breathing harshly but calmer than before.

"You okay, Lancelot?" a hoarse whisper questioned, and Lancelot drew Merlin closer, hoping to help with the shivers that were racking through his body.

"Yes, yes, I'm fine, Merlin, just...just relax okay?" Lancelot breathed out, an incredulous smile tilted across his face.

"M'kay, tired...missed you Kilgharrah," Merlin found himself leaning into the warmth of Lancelot, and his eyes began to have trouble staying open.

"I missed you as well, foolish warlock, rest," Kilgharrah muttered.

Merlin was out in an instant.

Kilgharrah looked over to Lancelot, "He must heal for a time, his body and magic will be weak. Come, I will take you both somewhere safe."

"What about him?" Lancelot looked over to his prisoner.

Kilgharrah growled low in his throat, "I will bring him as well." A threatening look filled his eyes, and Lancelot nodded.

Lancelot carefully pulled himself and Merlin's onto Kilgharrah's back, making sure not to move the warlock around too much.

Kilgharrah swiftly scooped the unconscious wizard up, and with a large swirling of wind, they disappeared into the sky.

~~.~~

Arthur had watched with the rest of the crowd as Merlin and Lancelot grabbed the cup, and then disappeared. He waited, a slow sense of dread filling his gut as the two had not reappeared at the platform to designate the winner.

"...Arthur?" Gwen was tense as well a hand moving to rest on his shoulder.

"They should be back by now...they should have been back immediately," Gwaine spoke harshly.

A rush of action was now beginning, Percival and Isolde were taken out of the maze, confusion and overwhelming concern obvious on their faces.

Dumbledore's voice boomed over the arena, "Everyone please calm down, we believe there may have been a problem with the coordinates of the portkey, we will begin looking into this at once, and we shall make sure that the champions will be returned promptly. "

Arthur's gut sank, and he looked over at Hermione, who let out a scared gasp. She looked back at him, dread filled her eyes, "Have you ever noticed that it is always at the end of the year that something horrible happens to Harry?"

Arthur breathed in, and breathed out, pinching his nose and gathering his thoughts, "Whatever happens, Merlin is strong, and he isn't by himself..." Anger shuddered through his body.

"Everyone is leaving sire, perhaps we should go back to the common room to talk?" Leon had moved over to their group.

"There isn't anything we can do from here," Mordred spoke quietly, " I can try to look for them with magic back in the common room."

Arthur nodded, and the group turned and left.

~~.~~

It was some time later that Gaius showed up with a pale face.

Arthur moved over to him, and the man let out a pained noise.

"It was found that Professor Moody disappeared just before the last task...as such a search party was sent out to find him..." Gaius sat down heavily.

"While checking through his room, they found him...in his own trunk, severely malnourished and with chunks of his hair missing."

"...polyjuice potion," Hermione spoke quietly.

Gaius nodded, "It seems someone has been pretending to be Moody, perhaps since the beginning of the year..."

"And they would have had access to everything, " Arthur closed his eyes, "The cup the information, the change in houses, everything."

Gaius nodded again, a bleak look entering his face.

Arthur cursed, and let out a quick breath, turning away from the people in the room.

"FUCK," Gwaine's shout echoed through the room, and Arthur mentally agreed with him.

Mordred and Luna had gone off somewhere, Mordred saying he would try to scry for their errant warlock. Hermione was pacing by the bookcase, seeing if there were any books that could help this situation.

Leon, Percival, and the now cursing Gwaine were all sat around the round table, not speaking much. Isolde had secluded herself to a nearby chair, curled up her head resting on her knees.

Gwen was on the couch, flicking her wand back and forth, her face pale and shadowed. Arthur found himself slumping next to her.

She slowly looked up at him, and gave a small smile, "I'm sure they will be fine, Arthur, you know those two..."

Arthur nodded, and carefully threaded their fingers together, even if they weren't together anymore they both still cared about each other deeply, "Merlin will keep Lancelot safe you know, he never...he never got over the last time."

Gwen gave him a watery smile, "And Lance will do everything to keep Merlin safe, I think he still feels like he owes him something."

Arthur shrugged and leaned back in the seat, "Then both those idiots will keep each other alive, and they will be back to annoying us soon."

Even Gaius let out a small laugh at that statement, his face still pinched with concern.

The silence (beside Gwaine's occasional mutters) of the room was halted by a knock on the portrait where the door was located.

Arthur slowly levered himself from his chair, and walked to the portrait, opening it to see who was on the other side.

"Can I help you Miss Greengrass?" Arthur spoke, his eyebrow raised.

The girl across from him twitched, and breathed out slowly, then threw her shoulders back with a royal look.

"I thought you would be interested in knowing that Merlin is safe at the moment, though injured," the girl spoke quickly.

Arthur paled, "How-I have no idea what you are talking abou-"

"Please, " Daphne rolled her eyes in a familiar way, " it wasn't as if he was hiding himself, he was being obvious."

"But," Arthur looked at the girl, confused," Then who are you?"

Daphne smirked, "I know it has been a while Arthur, but I thought even you would remember your sister."

* * *

First off, sorry about the wait. I was working a job of a million midnight shifts and just didn't have the energy to write, but I am back now and hopefully will begin writing normally within two weeks!

TRICKED YOU! Every single person who reviewed and pm'd me begged me not to kill Lancelot! I was never planning on killing him! Mwahahahaha. Not a single person asked about Merlin, shame shame. XD

Also, my muse went insane, apparently Morgana (who I have been fighting about a lot in my head) decided to show up so? Ok? And Kilgharrah, he wasn't supposed to be here either but meh.

So yup, writing again, life is glorious.

Please leave a review on your way out XD

BTW THANKS TO DRAGONFAN47 FOR ALL THE COOL IDEAS ABOUT MORGANA

-Not Necessarily in Between


	19. Morgana's Interlude

Hello! Next chapter up! This one is mainly from Morgana's point of view, and the next one will get back to the action and adventure of Lancelot and Merlin, as well as a change in the tides.

Please enjoy!

* * *

Arthur had been trained from a young age in how to hone his instincts and reactions to best suit the battle at hand. He had learned how to think calmly in the midst of battle, and to strategize in mere instants.

Which meant his first reaction to seeing Morgana again was throwing the door shut in her face and blinking wildly at the portrait's frame.

He looked over his shoulder, his eyes wide, and was met with large eyes from all around as well.

Gwen moved up next to him, and carefully opened the portrait again, but as they looked around Daphne was no longer there.

"I...are you telling me the Ice Queen of Slytherin is actually..." Leon blinked slowly and then lowered his face into his hands.

"But...why did she tell us about Merlin? Doesn't she hate him?" Gwaine muttered into the air, voicing exactly what Arthur had been thinking.

Because why in the world would Morgana come up to him and tell him that Merlin was fine, and added to that, if she remembered, when did she? And why didn't she...do something to either of them if she knew who she was.

"I need to speak with Morgana," Arthur grabbed a sword, but stilled when Gaius grabbed his shoulder.

"I suggest you do not go alone sire, or when Merlin comes back he will most likely be..." Gaius trailed off with a raised eyebrow, but Gwaine helpfully finished.

"Really fucking pissed with all of us, alright no time like the present to relive those nightmares, let's go princess!" Gwaine swaggered forward, Leon, Percival and Gwen following. Arthur sighed, but moved forward to lead them.

"Oh!" Hermione blinked, and then raised her wand, "Accio Marauder's Map!" The piece of parchment flew into her hands, and she moved forward speaking the password and watching as the castle appeared, "Here she is, at the astronomy tower."

Arthur gave her a small smile and she joined the group as they went off to find her.

~~.~~

When Daphne was young her parents were already proclaiming her a prodigy, her instinctive magic was unparalleled for her age. Yet, they were also extremely worried, for she never slept peacefully. Every night she would wake up, screaming, crying, begging, and no matter how much they pleaded, she would never tell her parents what her nightmares were about.

Her mother still remembers that look on her face when she first saw Astoria, a look of sadness, terror, hope, and trepidation all mixed into one, before going back to that cold pureblood mask she had perfected far too quickly.

As Astoria grew, Daphne seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at her attitude and personality, which was then followed with a horribly awkward conversation with her parents of, "Are you really sure I don't have an older sibling? Really? Truly?"

Daphne grew and aged, mind maturing far quicker than her peers, and it may be rude to that her parents breathed a sigh of relief when she went to Hogwarts, but there daughter had always just been a bit...off.

~~.~~

Daphne was two when she remembered her past life for the first time. She was sitting next to her father, who was reading books about what muggles used to do to witches and wizards when they still knew they existed.

And she saw a picture of a bonfire.

That entire night she had not been able to sleep, the wailing of an old woman and the sound of a chopping block echoing in her head endlessly.

It continued, every night a new scene, a new face that she should know, a new experience.

The strange man, who felt like a father who she loved and then she _hated_ with a burning passion that had her throwing up far into the morning.

A boy with blonde hair, a snot nosed brat but beloved little brother, and _he was screaming crying begging and she was so happy and so broken._

Another girl, sweet smiling always helping and being her confidante _and she turned away fear in her eyes, so she wanted to hurt the girl take away any chance she had, ruin her happiness and she did and it was __**glorious.**_

Another woman, one that she had known for far too short a time, or maybe too long? She would think back on her with love, but when she would wake up it felt..fake...forced. _This woman had saved her...but did she really?_

And lastly, a face with bright blue eyes and a quicksilver smile, a fox's penchant for tricks and mischief (and ears). He was amusing and bright but then the face fell, eyes blazed in a golden betrayal and _how, why? Why does he protect him? How? He betrayed me and I will make him suffer the most for what he has done! _

When her little sister was born, Daphne was...confused, and a bit intrigued. Maybe her little sister would be the same as her, maybe she would be the woman she had known for too long short a time, or maybe even the snot nosed brother - _"Ha, who is the girl now!"_

Unfortunately, or fortunately, her sister did not have the memories, and so Daphne shrugged and went on with trying to keep herself from going insane with the mix of memories, feelings, all too familiar faces, and a strange burning deep in her stomach.

Her first accidental magic had happened just after a nightmare. She woke to the scent of burning cloth, and sprung from her bed, watching in awe and terror as a flame spread from nowhere, the curtains sparking with light. A house elf quickly rushed in and got rid of it, but Daphne knew that feeling of fear and terror in her gut would not disappear for some time.

Sometimes, she would have wonderful dreams, happy dreams, and yet she would still wake up crying and screaming because all she could feel was a deep presence all around her, speaking to her, saying she had _ruined everything the golden age but you killed it, why couldn't you see? You became what you hated, it will not happen again._

Daphne was eight years old when she realized the horrifying truth. She was reading in her room, looking over some of the oldest books in the library during her boredom, when she stumbled upon a strange passage.

A strange name.

_**Emrys.**_

She blinked her eyes open, and found herself staring at the ceiling in an unfamiliar room, her twitching seeming to bring her parents rushing into her line of sight.

She had been sleeping for two weeks, nothing they tried would wake her up, was she alright? Did she feel any pain? Was she trying to use some magic she shouldn't.

Daphne shook her head, and put up with her parents overbearingness.

She was finally released from Saint Mungo's two days later, and that night, when she looked in the mirror, all she could see was herself.

Morgana.

When she started Hogwarts, she was mostly annoyed, and the tiniest bit excited. Children were surrounding her with the petty squabbles, always going on and on about other silly childish things.

There was a reason she never went to one of those "play dates" after all.

"And do you you know what he said to me!" a small blonde boy spoke with a sneer, "He said he knew the 'right kind for himself thanks!' I'll show him that he shouldn't mess with the Malfoy's, just wait till my father hears about this!"

Morgana blinked, and slowly looked over at the small blonde brat. His hair was gelled back, and his face was noble, though still chubby with youth.

And in that moment she sighed, because of course she would mostly be stuck with a miniature Arthur for _seven years oh triple goddess she does not want to deal with that again. _There wasn't even a Merlin this time to...she grimaced, and went back to looking out the window, firmly ignoring the mix of irritation/amusement/annoyance/remembrance that swelled in her gut as the brat continued to speak to his oafs.

She was definitely hiding a smile as she saw the small ragamuffin boy- who was Harry Potter, apparently? The Slytherin's had actually gotten into an argument of if he really was or not because he was so small and skinny, and knew nothing. _But she knew better, knew someone else who seemed to be a daft fool and look how that had turned out. _ -Anyway, she smiled as she saw him constantly egging Draco ignoring his fame and family, and just being a general nuisance.

If only he was around more, he might be a good influence on the blonde brat.

She was a bit less enthused when she realized Harry Potter was almost exactly like Merlin, somehow able to get into trouble left and right, and he was a child not even a teenager. She shuddered to think of the kind of mischief Merlin would have gotten into as a child.

So she watched him closely...she was just making sure he wasn't killed at school, that was all. He was a child who didn't know what he was getting into-that was all. Nothing else. No sense of remorse, or no lessening of nightmares whenever she helped him with small things.

(Stopping Slytherin bullies from going after him, making sure that when people tried to ruin his potion they wouldn't hurt him, stopping the sabotage of his classwork and broom, keeping an eye on him and making sure he didn't fall into any of the truly dangerous parts of the castle, just small things)

Yet, by the end of the year? He had ended up in the hospital wing, their defense teacher was "missing" and how had he managed to do that all in one night?

Because Morgana had felt a wraith in the castle, had felt it gain power the night before, and then a large burst of magic combat it, push it down and away, and she watched as his face grew annoyed at the switch from Slytherin to Gryffindor as winner, watched as she could nearly hear him muttering to himself at how that wasn't fair, then watched as he forced a smile onto his face and pretended to celebrate with the rest of them.

Morgana spent the next summer researching as much as she could into reincarnation- because surely it was impossible that someone be so similar in the worst possible ways.

The next year was a trial from start to finish, the "Heir of Slytherin" thing was making people even more useless than usual, and then people thought it was the tiny savior that was the heir, and really? Were people that useless? How had they lasted this long if they seriously thought with their ass and not with their brain.

It was harder to help-not help, just stop stupid people- that year, because she was trying to figure out where in the world did you hide a _basilisk_ in a ruddy castle. So she hadn't realized that the piped were humongous and could actually fit such a creature, sue her.

And then the boy had killed it, saved the girl, and somehow pissed of the Elder Malfoy all at the same time and she could be the tiniest bit entertained at that.

Third year just hurt. The dementors swarming around felt so much like the dorocha- they brought back those feelings of hopelessness. Mindless rage and a disturbing amount of loathing.

She never ventured out of the castle that year, not wanting to be reminded of that, however, Harry Potter seemed to do something stupidly amazing once again.

Also, did it really matter that she had set up a protective ward around him? Because it was just a small thing, nothing really big, it only took a month of research, and she wasn't even really trying.

Yet it was fourth year when everything came together in the most annoying of ways. First he had been acting...odd...very odd. Different from his usual attitude. She was interested in what was causing it, but then was blindsided as his name came out of the cup.

This year was going to be most troublesome.

And then the first task. The first task. Fucking dragons at the first task and it bowed to him and his eyes glowed _gold_ and no, that couldn't be possible...could it? Morgana stared as the dragon bowed low, and dragons do NOT bow, only to one...only to a dragon lord.

He really was an idiot wasn't he?

Suddenly a horrible thought entered her mind, and she slowly turned her head, a sense of trepidation...and there he was, his eyes wide with fear. Malfoy was gripping the banister tightly, his knuckles white and his eyes wide as he watched the scene going on below and-

_What had she done in her life to deserve this? Well...ok...maybe that wasn't the best way to put that question._

Morgana breathed out a sigh, and hid a small smile as she realized she would no longer be alone in protecting the idiot.

The next couple months were wonderful and horrible at the same time. It seems Merlin and Arthur did remember, and did come back and - Oh gods was that Gryffindor who was obsessed with explosions Gwaine? Why? Why would anyone do that!

The second task hurt to watch, but it did show the people around them just who they were trying to mess with. Merlin's face as he grabbed Arthur from the water and ran hurt to watch, but Morgana stood there through the entire thing, facing it head on and holding herself steady.

She had to see that much, at least.

As the third task grew closer something strange began to happen.

Snippets of the future began to appear in her dreams for the first time since her last life.

It was Merlin and Lancelot standing next to a large golden dragon. But it wasn't Merlin and Lancelot, it was Harry and Cedric, but it was the same dragon. Merlin looked horrible, but he was steady, standing tall. He seemed to be speaking into a glowing orb of magic, and then everything would fade to white and she would wake up a mixed sense of foreboding and excitement rising in her magic.

And then those two disappeared at the end of the third task.

And she knew it was time.

* * *

Morgana, I love you when you aren't insane, and apparently you just wanted a chapter to your awesomeness so here you go.

The approach I am taking with her is she is not the insane Morgana from season 3 on, but she does remember it. She is firmly neutral, not good nor evil. She cares for Merlin because she still feels guilt now that she has lost some of her insanity, but she won't go out of her way to protect him.

She just wants to live, and not ever have to do those kind of things again. So she is a mix of the first two seasons, and the last three, but not as vocal as she used to be. I think the magic fixed her madness a little bit. Also not having Uther or Morgause around definitely helped her mental stability.

Please leave a review on your way out~

~Not Necessarily in Between


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